How King Charles' coronation will differ to that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth

King Charles was a child when he watched his mother's coronation from a Westminster Abbey balcony. Decades on, he returns to the hallowed site for his own royal ceremony.

The King will be crowned Britain's next monarch on May 6 at the iconic London church where, as a four-year-old, his beloved "Mummy", Queen Elizabeth II, took the throne.

The ceremony will be a stripped-back affair compared to the late Queen's. Here is a breakdown of how the 74-year-old Kings' coronation will differ to his mother's.

READ MORE: Palace 'pushing' for Camilla to have her moment at coronation

A history of firsts

While Charles becoming King upon the death of his mother, on September 8, 2022, it is tradition to wait a sufficient period of time before crowning the new sovereign.

When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at her coronation in 1953, the ceremony was the first ever to be televised.

An estimated 27 million people watched the royal event live - more than half the then population of Britain. A further 11 million people listened on the radio.

At the King's service, there is speculation Charles will break with tradition and become the first Monarch to choose a modern wardrobe over traditional garb.

READ MORE: The coronation of King Charles III: What we know so far

As for Camilla, she will be the first Queen Consort in nearly a century to be crowned at the Abbey. She will wear Queen Mary's crown.

It is the first time in recent history an existing crown will be used for the consort's service.

Path to the crown

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were driven from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the royal Gold State Coach.

The coach was pulled by eight grey gelding horses – Cunningham, Tovey, Noah, Tedder, Eisenhower, Snow White, Tipperary and McCreery.

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The length of procession was 7.2 kilometres and took the 16,000 participants two hours to complete.

The King and Queen Consort Camilla will travel to their coronation from Buckingham Palace in the Australian-built Diamond Jubilee State Coach.

It was created for the 60th anniversary of the late Queen's reign in 2012 and first used at the State Opening of Parliament on June 4, 2014.

The ceremony will begin at 11am at Westminster Abbey and will be followed by a larger procession back to the palace ahead of the royal family's appearance on the balcony.

READ MORE: How to watch the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla

The guest list

A total of 8251 guests attended the Queen's ceremony at Westminster Abbey, with 129 nations and territories officially represented at the service.

The King has invited 2000 guests, which will include foreign royals and dignitaries from around the world.

The guests will include Charles' youngest son, the Duke of Sussex. He will attend without his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan reportedly declined the royal invite to stay at home in California with her two children.

The couple's eldest son, Prince Archie, turns four on the day of the coronation, May 6.

As a show of unity, Buckingham Palace included a photo of the royal couple alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales, their children, the King and the Queen Consort.

The photo was taken in 2018, soon after Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding, to mark the 70th birthday of then-Prince Charles.

The crown jewels

The crown jewels and regalia that will be seen at the ceremony inside Westminster Abbey represent both the powers and responsibilities of the monarch.

The Queen wore the George IV State Diadem the iconic crown, on the way to her coronation.

The crown was made in 1820 and features roses, shamrocks and thistles. It also has 1333 diamonds and 169 pearls.

The St Edward's Crown, made in 1661, was placed on the Queen's head during the Coronation service. It weighs more than 2kg and is made of solid gold.

The Queen also took ownership of the royal orb and the Sovereign's Ring.

The King and Queen Consort will each wear crowns and rings during the ceremony.

The Sovereign's ring and the Queen Consort's ring were made for the coronation of William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831 by royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell.

Charles will follow in his mother's footsteps and also don the St Edward's Crown - regarded as the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels.

It will be the first and last time he will wear the historic crown.

In December last year the St Edward's Crown and Queen Mary's crown were removed from display at the Tower of London in preparation for Charles's coronation.

Buckingham Palace says it is the first time in "recent history" an existing crown will be used for a coronation instead of a new one being made.

The decision was made "in the interests of sustainability and efficiency".

Queen Mary's crown was made by royal jewellers Garrard's for the 1911 coronation and was commissioned by Queen Mary, the consort of King George V.

The second crown to be used during the coronation will be the Imperial State Crown.

The Imperial State Crown was last seen during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, when it was placed upon her coffin.

Royal music

Music played a key part at the Queen's coronation.

For the post-war generation, the musical choices of Walton's Orb and Sceptre, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches and Herbert Howells' Behold, O god Our Defender, provided a much needed lift.

As the BBC wrote, the day was a "roll call of great 20th-century British composers".

The day also had an Australian connection with Dr William McKie, the late Australian composer, conducted the full proceedings of the massed choir, orchestra, and trumpeters at the Queen's coronation.

The King commissioned 12 new compositions that have been written for the coronation.

"Six of the new commissions have been composed for orchestra and will be performed before the service, prior to Their Majesties' arrival at the Abbey, complemented by a programme of mainly British music spanning 350 years," a Palace statement read.

The commissions will be performed by the Coronation Orchestra made up of eight leading orchestras.

These include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Regina Symphony Orchestra (Saskatchewan, Canada), English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Welsh National Opera Orchestra.

Royal feast

Coronation Chicken was invented for international guests at the Queen's ceremony.

"The food had to be prepared in advance, and Florist Constance Spry proposed a recipe of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs," the Palace wrote.

"Constance Spry's recipe won the approval of the Minister of Works and has since been known as Coronation Chicken."

In the lead up to their coronation, the King and Camilla shared a recipe for a Coronation Quiche, made from spinach, broad beans and tarragon.

The recipe was released from the royal family's official channels in celebration of Coronation Big Lunches, which set to take place over the Coronation weekend in May.