The Coronation of King Charles III will be a day of celebration across the country, and the University of Cambridge will mark the celebrations with a range of formal and informal events and activities
The Coronation of King Charles III will be a day of celebration across the country, and the University of Cambridge will mark the celebrations with a range of formal and informal events and activities
On the day of the Coronation, Saturday 6 May, bell ringing will form part of the celebrations, arranged by the University Bellringer, Dr Frank King. Members of the Cambridge University Guild of Change Ringers will participate in ringing at churches around Cambridge and nationally.
On Sunday 7 May, there will be a special service at Great St Mary’s Church, the University church, attended by University and civic representatives in procession, and also by invitees representing other faiths. There will be a reception afterwards.
Later in the day, the University will be represented at another special service at Ely Cathedral.
All three days of the Coronation Weekend, including the Monday Bank Holiday, will be 'flag days' in the University, which means flags will be raised across the University and Colleges and Cambridge Doctors will wear their scarlet 'festal' gowns at the services.
There will also be a range of less formal celebrations to mark the occasion, including commemorative items and artwork related to the celebration on display around the University and Colleges.
The University Bellringer, Dr Frank King, will arrange for ringing on future anniversaries of the King's Accession.
Cambridge connections to the Coronation
His Majesty the King, a Cambridge graduate and Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, will be crowned by another Cambridge graduate and Honorary Fellow of Trinity, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The King's father, Prince Philip, was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge for 35 years, from December 1976 to June 2011.
Prince Edward, the King’s brother, graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge in 1986.
The Gospels of Augustine of Canterbury, the oldest surviving illustrated Latin Gospels in the world, will play a key role in the Coronation. The manuscript has been kept safe in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, for the last 450 years. His Majesty the King (then Prince Charles) visited the Parker Library in March 2001 and was shown the Gospels. He immediately recognised their importance. During the planning of the Coronation His Majesty requested that the Gospels be part of the ceremony.
Cambridge University Press' links to the monarchy date back almost 500 years to the moment King Henry VIII granted the University of Cambridge the right to print ‘all manner of books’. Today, Cambridge University Press & Assessment holds Royal Letters Patent as the King's Printer, further strengthening links to the Crown.
The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College and an alum of Corpus Christi College.
Westminster Abbey's Director of Music, Andrew Nethsingha was - until very recently - Director of Music at St John's College.
Nigel Hess, who studied music at St Catharine’s College, has composed music for the Coronation, as has Corpus Christi alum Tarik O'Regan.
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household, the Head of the Royal Household, is Lord Parker of Minsmere, a Cambridge graduate.
The Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir, graduated from King’s College.
David Salmon, currently studying for his Master's in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, will carry his national flag of Jamaica at the coronation.
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