King’s coronation route is far shorter than his mother’s in 1953

It will be much shorter than Elizabeth II’s five-mile return expedition around central London.

PA Media

10th Apr 2023

The King’s coronation procession stretches to just 1.3 miles – around a quarter of the length of the late Queen’s five-mile celebratory journey.

A newly crowned Charles and Queen Consort will make their way back from Westminster Abbey via the tried and tested route of Parliament Square, along Whitehall, around Trafalgar Square, through Admiralty Arch and down The Mall back to Buckingham Palace.

It will be the reverse of their route to the Abbey but much shorter than Elizabeth II’s five-mile return expedition around central London which saw the 27-year-old monarch waving to crowds along Piccadilly, Oxford Street and Regent Street.

The grand procession in 1953 took two hours and featured tens of thousands of participants, with the two-and-a-half mile cavalcade taking 45 minutes to pass any given point.

Charles’s shorter route is understood to have been chosen for practical reasons, with a preference for the familiar journey used on many a royal occasion.

He will travel back in the Gold State Coach, famously criticised by many monarchs for being uncomfortable, including Elizabeth II.

The Queen’s journey to her crowning on June 2 1953 was 1.6 miles, taking in a slightly longer route than Charles’s by making her way along the Victoria Embankment by the River Thames.

Unlike the Queen, Charles and Camilla will travel to the Abbey in the more high-tech Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which is complete with mod-cons including air conditioning and shock absorbers.