"I have come to serve, not to be served". This promise, which Charles III made to the youngest choirboy at the very beginning of his coronation service, was fulfilled by the king throughout the two-hour coronation ceremony. In this ritual in London's Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning, it was not a carefree ruler who was crowned, but a monarch of advanced age at the side of his wife, who sometimes showed an astonished smile in the corner of his mouth, but was usually visibly under the impression of the weight of the dignity that he has embodied since the death of his mother and must continue to embody.

Johannes Leithäuser

Political correspondent for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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And unlike the coronation of Elizabeth II 70 years ago, this time the festive act was determined less by youth and hope than by festive thoughtfulness and melancholy. It started with the weather. It had also rained on Elizabeth's coronation day, but on this Saturday the deep grey clouds with their slanted rain moved so evenly and persistently over the parade route in central London that they gradually drenched the optimism that the sun would still show up.

The St. Edward's crown weighs two kilos

The coronation service for Charles included numerous symbols and gestures around the medieval rite that were intended to demonstrate the king's will to be a modern, contemporary monarch. From the new coronation anthem written by musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, to the provision that four lords of the House of Lords, belonging to religions other than Anglican Christianity, presented the regalia, i.e. spurs, bracelets and other signs of royal dignity, to the archbishop's appeal to all those present in the cathedral and all the inhabitants of the royal realms, to follow him.

The King seemed almost delicate and fragile under the weight of the golden St. Edward's crown, which Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, slowly lowered onto his head and moved back and forth with both hands a few times before leaning down to Charles to make sure that the two-kilo showpiece was properly seated. And even before that, during the royal oath, the monarch gave the impression that he was not always fully oriented about the order of the formulations that were held out to him on index cards for reading.

The most sacred act and humble moment of the ceremony consisted of the anointing, which took place behind screens brought and held by guards in front of the high altar. The king had previously been stripped down to his shirt and trousers of his state robes and anointed by the archbishop behind the screen with holy olive oil extracted in Jerusalem on his head, chest and hands. After the soldiers had raised their bowed heads and carried away the embroidered umbrella, Charles reappeared, kneeling in a simple shirt in front of the high altar. Only then were the coronation robes put on him. His son, Prince William, helped him hook the clasp of the golden tunic. The heir to the throne later became the first and only "feudal man" to pay homage to the king, spoke the prescribed words to serve with "life and limb" and then gave the father a kiss on the cheek.

Charles' second son Harry, who left the inner circle of the active royal family with his American wife Meghan two years ago, attended the ceremony without his wife and children. The fact that his judgments and statements about "the institution," as he has been calling his family for a while, have led to serious mutual resentment between him, his brother and his father may have been one reason why the king's face sometimes drew a hint of concern.

Justice, grace, wisdom, magnanimity were the words most often repeated in the ritualized formulas, also in the homily of Archbishop Welbys. They faced the pomp and circumstance with which the royal couple left the abbey at the end of the service, now dressed in their coronation robes and wearing their crowns, out into the London rain. The fanfares blared, the festive congregation sang the national anthem, and the lines "send him victorious, happy and glorious" did not fully correspond to the expression on the face of the monarch advancing in a measured manner.

The gilded coronation carriage, pulled by eight grey horses, brought King Charles and Queen Camilla back to Buckingham Palace at walking pace, cheered on despite the wetness by many thousands who lined the two-kilometer parade route. Their Majesties waved in a friendly manner, sceptre in hand, the orb placed between them on the cushion. Several thousand soldiers marched in front of them, leading the carriage procession in eight contingents of troops and waiting for an hour for the simultaneous command to march off.