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SPAIN'S reigning monarchs King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will be present at the coronation of their British counterpart, Charles III, today (Saturday).
Their eldest daughter and heir to the Spanish throne, Princess Leonor, 17, will not attend despite already living in the UK at present, since she is revising for her final sixth-form exams at her college in south Wales.
National Spanish television will be broadcasting King Charles III's coronation live from start to finish, meaning British residents in Spain who cannot get access to a UK channel will still be able to watch it in full.
From mainland Spain and Gibraltar, the ceremony starts at 11.20 this morning, or from 10.20 in the Canary Islands and the UK.
Spanish daily news websites have announced they will be updating constantly throughout the morning as the first coronation in 70 years takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.
The State-owned TVE – Spain's equivalent to the BBC and otherwise known as 'La 1' – as well as Canal 24h will be showing the full event.
It will begin with the new King and the Queen Consort, Charles III's wife Camilla, parading in the Diamond Jubilee carriage along with the British Armed Forces from Buckingham Palace to Westminster – a procession expected to last around 40 minutes.
The actual crowning will be at noon mainland Spain time (11.00 in the Canaries and the UK) during a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with 12 hitherto-unrecorded pieces of music played, specially composed for the King.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will then begin the procession in reverse, back to Buckingham Palace, in the Gold State carriage, and expected to begin at about 14.00 mainland Spain time (13.00 in the Canaries and UK).
Once the full welcome committee arrives at the Palace, Charles III and Camilla will appear on the balcony to greet the crowds below, serenaded by a display by the Royal Air Force and the Red Arrows.
This is expected to be between 15.00 and 15.30 mainland Spain time (14.00 and 14.30 in the Canary Islands and the UK), although repeats on news-reel are likely to continue on Canal 24h and La 1 throughout the afternoon.
Last time a monarch was crowned in the UK was in 1953 – Charles III's mother, Elizabeth II.
The late Queen, who passed away on September 8, 2022 aged 96, had officially ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952 – the day her father, King George VI, passed away.
She was in Kenya with her husband, Prince Philip, at the time, and returned immediately to the UK for her public proclamation, which was on February 8, 1952.
Queen Elizabeth was 21 when she married Prince Philip, then 26 – her third cousin – and they were together until his death in 2021, just two months before his 100th birthday.
Both were also third cousins of Spain's King Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014, and his wife Queen Sofía.
This means King Felipe, their son, is a direct relative of Charles III – and, indeed, he and Queen Letizia always referred to HRH Charles' mother and father as 'Aunt Lilibet and Uncle Philip'.
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