<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">King Charles and Queen Camilla have been crowned on a historic day of pageantry, capped by cheering from crowds in front of Buckingham Palace.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thousands packed the Mall despite the rain, after a deeply religious Coronation service at Westminster Abbey and a huge procession through London.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The King and Queen waved from the Palace balcony as the RAF Red Arrows painted the sky red, white and blue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the BBC understands Prince Harry was not invited to join them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Duke of Sussex had been at the ceremony in the abbey earlier, sitting two rows back from his brother Prince William - the first time they had been seen together since Harry's sensational memoir, Spare, was released. He left for the US straight afterwards.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The King's day began shortly after 10:00 BST, with the procession to Westminster Abbey in the horse-drawn Diamond Jubilee State Coach, past cheering crowds and an honour guard of 1,000 members of the armed forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Faith leaders and commonwealth leaders began the processions, with the King and Queen following behind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two-hour ceremony - the first to crown a monarch in 70 years - was watched on TV around the world, as well as some 2,300 people inside the abbey.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the crown was placed on Charles's head cries of "God Save the King" were heard inside and outside, and gun salutes were made across the UK.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Celebrity guests were among those inside Westminster Abbey - including actress Emma Thompson and US singer Katy Perry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">US First Lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter Finnegan arrived in a three-car motorcade, although President Biden did not travel to the UK. French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska were also in the abbey, as were Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leaders of the Commonwealth countries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In all, 90 heads of state attended, the Foreign Office said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Coronation's main theme was the importance of service.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I come not to be served, but to serve," the King said in his first prayer after reaching the abbey.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Charles was proclaimed as the "undoubted King" in the first stage of the ceremony. The congregation was then asked to show their homage and service, shouting "God Save the King".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yet among the music and oaths, there were moments of complete silence as each stage of the ancient ceremony finished.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Traditions rarely seen elsewhere in modern life were maintained - such as the inclusion of the orb and sceptre and the carrying of the gilded Sword of State.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In one part of the service, the King was screened from public for the anointing - seen as the most sacred part of proceedings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was where the King was anointed with holy oils by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The need for privacy, the Palace said, was because it "has historically been regarded as a moment between the Sovereign and God".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While waiting for the anointed King to reappear, choristers sang Handel's Zadok the Priest - performed at every coronation since 1727.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prince William also made a pledge of loyalty to King Charles, and kissed him on the cheek, before members of the congregation were invited to offer their own support.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Returning to the Palace, it was a spectacle of pomp and pageantry as the newly crowned King and Queen travelled up The Mall in the Gold State Coach flanked by thousands of servicemen and women.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In total, 4,000 armed forces personnel and 19 military bands took part - making it the biggest state occasion since the coronation of the late Queen in 1953.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the very English weather - constant rain - there was a celebratory atmosphere on The Mall, with periodic Mexican waves and police officers being cheered.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the thousands of spectators, many of whom camped overnight for the best viewing spot, was Alexandra Hornyak, 57, from Montreal, Canada.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I've known for years that I would want to attend this day, and the day that it was announced, I was driving to the office, and my husband just called me and said 'May 6'," she told the BBC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I knew exactly what it was. And I jumped on the phone to get a hotel reservation and we went from there."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hours later, the Prince and Princess of Wales tweeted a video of the family's day, writing: "What. A. Day. Thank you to everyone who made it happen." BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbdd24/kh</div>