Final preparations are underway ahead of the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Saturday.
Westminster is, as with all major national and royal events, the focal point of the celebrations, with the Coronation service due to take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday at 11am.
Residents will be able to join in the festivities with street parties to be held over the weekend across the city to mark the first coronation of a British monarch in 70 years.
The coronation service and proceedings will be screened outdoors organised by the council at Paddington Recreation Ground along with family activities. The event is open to all and not ticketed, with more details available here.
Thousands of organisations will also be taking part in the Big Help Out on the bank holiday, Monday May 8, with people encouraged to get involved in volunteering opportunities across the country.
In addition to the planned events, licensing hours have been extended across England and Wales from May 5-7, allowing pubs and bars to open until 1am to give people the chance to toast the new king.
Decorations, including banners, bunting and union flags have gone up around the West End, including most notably at Marble Arch a 16ft bespoke replica of the St Edward’s Crown which will be placed on Charles’s head at midday on Saturday. Mock thrones have also been set up in various locations for visitors to have photo ops.
The Coronation celebrations will also see a drastically stepped up police presence across Westminster and the West End over the weekend, with the Met Police estimating the ‘largest one day mobilisation of officers seen in decades’. A total of 29,000 police officers will be on the streets of Central London this weekend, including 11,500 on duty on Saturday, as part of Operation Golden Orb.
More controversially, the Met also announced that facial recognition technology will be in use throughout the weekend, focused specifically on those who raise ‘public protection concerns’ such as those with outstanding arrest warrants or wanted criminals.
Main image: Marble Arch BID.