Archbishop spends several seconds adjusting crown for King during ceremony
The official crowning of King Charles took around eight seconds.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to spend several seconds adjusting the crown as the King was officially coronated.
As St Edward’s Crown was placed on the King’s head, there was complete silence in Westminster Abbey as the congregation stood for the momentous occasion.
Mr Welby appeared to place it on King Charles’s head firmly, before giving it a twist in an attempt to keep it on.
But after the twist failed to work, the Archbishop then lifted the crown up again, before having another go at securing it in position.
After his second attempt the crown tipped forwards on the King’s head.
Mr Welby then tilted it to the side before he was content with removing his hands from the crown.
The Archbishop then leaned forward towards the King and carefully inspected the ancient artefact before eventually retreating.
The official crowning of the King took around eight seconds in total.
The 2,300 guests then heartily echoed the archbishop’s cry of God save the King.
King Charles’s crown is known to be heavy, with the monarch once commenting on how his mother the late Queen said goodnight to him while wearing it so she could “get used to its weight on her head” before her coronation in 1953.
The official crowning of the Queen was also not completely smooth, as she raised her hand and appeared to give the Archbishop some verbal assistance.
Queen Camilla then used her index finger to adjust her hair underneath the crown five times.