King's Procession: Well-wishers gather for Charles' coronation

London: Thousands of people turned central London red, white and blue on Saturday, with a sea of Union Jack flags lining the streets for the coronation of King Charles III.

Donna Werner of New Fairfield, Conn, shows off her homemade coronation hat as she sits at her campsite on the Mall near Buckingham Palace.

People who camped overnight overnight for a view of the royals awoke to cloudy skies that gave way to sun and some light rain.

While the coronation service itself promises to be a sombre and sober affair, a celebratory atmosphere was building in the British capital and beyond.

Fans carrying flags and clad in the colors of the Union Jack were arriving by train in London hours before the ceremony that begins when Charles and Camilla, queen consort, depart from the palace in a gilded horse-drawn carriage.

On The Mall outside Buckingham Palace, the most fervent royal fanatics have already got the party started, with some camping out for days to secure a prime spot for the historic event.

On Whitehall, too, crowds were building on the street leading to Westminster Abbey, cheering marching bands as they passed.

The Union Jack is omnipresent, being waved on flags, emblazoned on T-shirts and painted on people's faces. There are many crowns too, from simple home-made headgear to sophisticated ermine and purple velvet pieces.

The royal couple will be chauffeured on the 1.3-mile (2-kilometer) route through central London to Westminster Abbey for the two-hour ceremony.

The set-piece coronation is the first in Britain in 70 years, and only the second in history to be televised. Charles will be the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned at the central London church since King William I in 1066.

Outside the UK, he is also king of 14 other Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Camilla, his second wife, will be crowned queen alongside him and be known as Queen Camilla after the ceremony.

Well-wishers line the route of the 'King's Procession', a two kilometres stretch from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, in central London, on May 6, 2023 ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III.