King Charles is said to have scaled back the coronation next May

King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday 6th May next year in what is expected to be a reduced coronation taking into account the tense times the UK finds itself in.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, where coronations have been held for nearly 1,000 years, while also crowning the Queen’s consort, Camilla, according to a Buckingham Palace statement.

“The coronation will reflect the role of the monarch today and look to the future while being rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry,” the palace said.

Exactly what that means has been the subject of speculation in the national press. The guest list could be cut by thousands compared to the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II 1953; the ceremony shortened to about an hour; and some of the more esoteric aspects of it have been cut out altogether.

The palace declined to comment on the details of the event, apart from confirming that the ceremony would encompass the same core elements that have existed for hundreds of years but would also reflect “the zeitgeist”.

The king’s coronation would combine solemn religious aspects with pageantry, a Royal Household official said, adding: “The Government, the Royal Household, the Earl Marshal [the Duke of Norfolk, who is organising the ceremony] — Everyone is very aware of the financial situation in the country.”

The final coronation was a lavish affair, lasting almost three hours and attended by more than 8,000 guests at Westminster Abbey and representatives from 129 different nations. The ceremony, the first of its kind to be televised, was watched by 27 million viewers in the UK alone.

King Charles, who ascended to the throne aged 96 after the death of his mother last month, has announced his intention to slim down the monarchy in response to public demand for a modern institution with lower costs and less ostentation.

There was a huge display of pageantry and pomp in the run-up to the Queen’s funeral. But the prospect that King Charles’ coronation, which has been postponed to next year to allow for a period of mourning, could be toned down is not universally popular.