July 5 (UPI) — Edinburgh was set to mark the coronation of King Charles III on Wednesday with an afternoon of events including a service of thanksgiving, two processions, a 21-gun salute, and a jet flypast by the RAF.
The celebrations in which Charles will be presented with the Honors of Scotland — crown jewels and royal regalia first used at the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543 — got underway at around 12:30 p.m. local time.
A people’s procession will carry the honors from Edinburgh Castle to St. Giles Cathedral for the service and presentation which will take place in the presence of the 13th-century Stone of Destiny, freshly back from the coronation at Westminster Abbey in May.
Charles was set the receive the Papal Sword given by Pope Julius II to the Scottish King James IV in 1507 but will instead be presented with the Elizabeth Sword, commissioned in 2022, as the original was judged to be too fragile to move.
The Royal Procession will begin from Holyrood Palace — King Charles and Queen Camilla’s official Scottish residence — with a military escort as it progresses along the Royal Mile to the cathedral and there will also be a fly-past by the Red Arrows, the RAF’s aerobatic display team.
The king and queen will be accompanied on the procession by the prince and princess of Wales.
Part of a week-long visit by the royal couple, the day mirrors a visit by Charles’ late-mother Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh following her coronation in June 1953.
Crowds of well-wishers and tourists were building up along the Royal Mile but there were also anti-monarchy protestors positioned outside the cathedral and Holyrood Palace ahead of rallies that will be attended by Scottish government ministers.
Kat Cary, from the Our Republic group, told the BBC they were demonstrating because “we don’t support an unelected head of state”, adding that polls showed that 46{dec8eed80f8408bfe0c8cb968907362b371b4140b1eb4f4e531a2b1c1a9556e5} of Scottish people do not back the monarchy.
“It will be a peaceful protest. We want an elected head of state, not some hereditary one.”
The coronation in London was marred by what turned out to be the wrongful arrests of dozens of anti-monarchy protestors and local authority volunteers handing out rape alarms under controversial new police powers that came into force on May 3, three days beforehand.
