Why Charles’s coronation could be a more modest affair than the queen’s

Smaller military, greater religious diversity and terrorism concerns among differences from 1953

When the St Edward’s crown is placed on the head of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey on 6 May, it will be part of a continuation of the longstanding traditions and pageantry of more than 1,000 years of monarchy.

But his promise that his coronation “will reflect the monarch’s role today” signals some departure from the scale and extravagance of the ceremonial accorded to his late mother. How significant those departures will be is not yet known, but they are dictated by societal changes that took place over the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.