King Charles' coronation in pictures

Charles has been officially crowned with St Edward's Crown by the Archbishop of Canterbury while he sat in the 700-year-old oak Coronation Chair. Such extravagant ceremonies have been held to crown British monarchs for more than 1,000 years. Charles, 74, was the 40th sovereign to be enthroned in Westminster Abbey, and the oldest.

The solid gold St Edward's Crown was made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661. Bedecked with more than 400 precious stones, it is only ever allowed to be used to crown a new monarch.

The Coronation Chair, which was once gilded, has a sacred slab known as the Stone of Scone — kept in Scotland nowadays — placed under the seat for the ceremony. Scottish kings were crowned on the same slab.

Westminster Abbey has been the royal coronation church since 1066. More than 2,000 guests have been invited to the ceremony of King Charles III's coronation.

Charles' wife is now officially known as Queen Camilla, not "queen consort." The title does not change her role as a royal, but marks a milestone in the 75-year-old's road to rehabilitating her image — from someone once seen as "the other woman" in Charles' first marriage to Princess Diana. In a break from tradition, Camilla did not wear the crown sporting the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond.

The newly crowned king and queen returned to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony, where they appeared on the balcony with other royals to applause and chants from thousands of supporters. Prince Andrew, Charlers' brother, and Prince Harry, the king's younger son, were not on the balcony.

Prince William, who is next in line to be king, knelt before his father and pledged his loyalty as his "liege man of life and limb." William's three children are second, third and fourth in line to the throne.

Prince William's younger brother, Harry, arrived at the ceremony alone. It had been previously announced that his wife Meghan, battling with British tabloid papers along with her husband, would remain at home in California. May 6 is their son Archie's fourth birthday. Harry waited outside the abbey while Charles and other royals joined a military procession after the ceremony.

Charles' younger brother Prince Andrew has been sidelined in recent years amid a backlash over his friendship with the late convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. The 63-year-old has also come under fire for sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein's victims, which was settled out of court. Andrew was reportedly booed as he headed to Westminster Abbey.

Liz Truss, the last prime minister to serve under Queen Elizabeth's reign and the first under Charles', was among the attendees, as well as her predecessor Boris Johnson. Johnson's acrimonious exit provided the soundtrack for the last weeks of Elizabeth II's rein, Truss' economic mismanagement was the mood music only for a vanishingly brief period of Charles' tenure.

Nick Cave is just one of the many musicians and artists invited to the coronation. Judi Dench, Emma Thompson and Lionel Richie were also seen at the ceremony. Celebrity publications reported in the run-up to the ceremony that a number of prominent artists, including Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Robbie Williams, declined invitations, albeit citing prior commitments.

Thousands of people gathered to celebrate Charles' coronation, with some royal fanatics camping out on The Mall for days to secure a spot for the event. Crowds chanted "God Save the King" and waved the Union Jack flags. Around 7,000 troops marched at Buckingham Palace.

Not everyone is a fan of the royals. Anti-royal protesters waved flags that read, "Abolish the Monarchy" and "Not my King." The demosntrators demanded an elected head of state, saying there was no place for a royal family in a modern constitutional democracy, and that the monarchy was staggeringly expensive to maintain — especially amid the current cost-of-living crisis.

London police arrested several of the protest organizers and reportedly seized hundreds of their placards shortly before Saturday's ceremony. The British government had earlier this week rushed into law new powers new anti-protest powers.