Downing Street said the UK-wide public holiday will fall on Monday May 8 following the coronation at Westminster Abbey two days earlier. Rishi Sunak said the day would be an opportunity for families and communities across the country to come together to celebrate. The announcement follows calls by Tory MPs for the government to either move the early May bank holiday from May 1 to coincide with the coronation weekend or declare an extra day off. Sunak said: “The coronation of a new monarch is a unique moment for our country. In recognition of this historic occasion, I am delighted to announce an additional bank holiday for the whole of the UK next year. “I look forward to seeing people come together to celebrate and pay tribute to King Charles III by participating in local and national events across the country in his honour.” The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, said the coronation, on Saturday May 6, would combine “the sacred and the formal, but it is also festive”. Charles will be anointed with holy oil, receive the orb, coronation ring and scepter, then be crowned with St Edward’s Crown and blessed during the ceremony, which will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen Consort will also be anointed with holy oil and crowned, just as the Queen Mother was when she was crowned Queen in 1937. There have been reports that Charles wants a waiting ceremony of just one hour. The coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 lasted more than three hours. Dowden added: “This bank holiday will once again give people across the UK the opportunity to come together as families and communities to welcome Her Majesty to the throne as we mark this important day in our nation’s long history ».
