King Charles and Queen Camilla issue first statement since crowning ceremony

The royals were ‘deeply touched’ by the celebrations on Saturday (6 May)

King Charles III and Queen Camilla were “deeply touched” by the nation’s celebration of their coronation, Buckingham Palace has said.

A Palace spokesperson said: “Their Majesties were deeply touched by the events of yesterday and profoundly grateful both to all those who helped to make it such a glorious occasion – and to the very many who turned out to show their support in such numbers in London and further afield.”

Charles and Camilla arrived at Westminster Abbey yesterday morning (6 May) where they were crowned King and Queen after a religious ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The service lasted two hours, with some of the 2,000 guests arriving at the Abbey four hours before the event started.

Read our live coverage of the coronation weekend here.

An average of 18.8 million people in the UK watched the lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey across 11 channels and services, with audience figures peaking at 20.4 million when the King was crowned just after midday, according to overnight ratings released by the research organisation Barb.

Thousands of royal superfans flocked to the Mall, with many camping out in the days leading up to the event.

However, there were several moments of levity that many people could’ve missed if they’d simply blinked during the ceremony. From an unexpected appearance of a figure people likened to the “grim reaper” to Katy Perry looking extremely lost as she attempted to locate her seat, we’ve rounded up six moments you might have missed.

Prince Harry arrived at the event on a commercial flight from Los Angeles, marking the first time he had seen his family since he released his controversial tell-all memoir Spare.

Buckingham Palace has said that Charles and Camilla are ‘touched’ by the celebrations (2023 Getty Images)

He left for the airport shortly after the event wrapped up yesterday afternoon and arrived back at LAX Airport after 7pm local time for Prince Archie’s belated birthday celebrations.

The news comes as chief executive Graham Smith, the organiser of an anti-monarchy group who was among 52 people arrested on the day of the King’s coronation, was released from police custody after nearly 16 hours. The majority of his Republic colleagues, however, continued to be held, amid heavy criticism of the Metropolitan Police.

Over the weekend, the Met Police has also faced condemnation for an alleged “totalitarian crackdown” on protesters, and was heavily criticised for arresting late-night women’s safety volunteers ahead of the coronation.

As the coronation celebrations continue today, Charles and Camilla will be joining around 20,000 members of the public at the concert this evening, where they will see performances by Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

Follow our live coverage of the coronation concert here.