King's Coronation: Two 'highly significant' changes Charles is making

With the coronation less than two weeks away, it is clear King Charles is looking to stamp his mark on the ceremony.

It emerged this week that the coronation oath is unlikely to be altered, despite previous reports that the King was considering making one of the most significant parts of the even more inclusive of other faiths.

And as more details emerge, we now know that Charles has already made changes to the coronation that one expert has called a "highly significant" departure from Queen Elizabeth's service in 1953.

Break from centuries old tradition

The first of these saw clergy from another denomination involved in blessing the oil that will be used to anoint Charles as King during the coronation — a part of the service deemed so sacred it was the only portion not to be televised during Elizabeth's coronation.

Ian Bradley, professor emeritus of cultural and spiritual history at the University of St. Andrew's and author of God Save the King, the Sacred Nature of Monarchy, explained to Yahoo UK why this move was so important.

"It was highly significant and symbolic that the oil was blessed by an Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem and that it came from the Mount of Olives.

"It symbolised the new king’s deep attachment to the Orthodox faith and the fact that his grandmother was a devout Greek Orthodox nun and is, of course, buried on the Mount of Olives, from where the oil came."

It was the first time since the Reformation that any clergy from outside the Anglican Church had played a part in blessing the oil.

For centuries, the position of supreme governor of the Church of England has been held by the British monarch, which means the influence of the church and the monarchy is closely aligned. The anointing of the monarch with holy oil is seen as spiritually transformative, and consecrating them for their new role.

Since 1688, the monarch has had to make an oath at their coronation promising to "maintain and preserve" the Church of England and "to the utmost of [their] power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion".

Gesture from the Pope

The incorporation of other churches into the coronation service can also be seen through the incorporation of a gift from Pope Francis in the procession, which Ian Bradley commented was another "highly significant" move from the new King – although not one that is necessarily a surprise.

"This is a highly significant gesture but not unexpected. Both the late Queen and Charles as Prince of Wales reached out to the Roman Catholic Church and its leadership and adherents in the UK, perhaps most movingly when the late Cardinal Hume went from his deathbed to receive the Order of Merit from the Queen.

"Both the Queen and Charles have met several popes and it is a wonderful reciprocal gesture that the current Pope has made the gift of relics from the true cross for the cross which will be carried through Westminster Abbey at the start of the coronation service.

"Charles has already indicated that he is committed to protecting and defending his Roman Catholic subjects as much as his Protestant ones, and those of other faiths and none."

Bradley added he would "expect to see Roman Catholic participation in the coronation service".

The inclusion of a papal gift comes at a time when the terror threat in Northern Ireland — a region in the UK which has long been plagued by sectarian violence and tension — has been raised to 'severe' from 'substantial'.

This means that the intelligence services believe that an attack has become much more likely to occur.

As a constitutional monarch, Charles's role is primarily a ceremonial one — while he doesn't get involved in political matters he has to ensure as head of state that he can embody a type of symbolism the whole country can get behind.

Bradley said of the choice to include this gesture from the Roman Catholic Church had the potential to help defuse some of the ongoing tension that still exists between the two denominations in some parts of the UK.

"One would indeed hope that all of this might help to defuse the sectarianism that still persists in parts of the UK."

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