King of kings: The Christian message at the heart of the coronation

With its pomp and pageantry, the coronation might seem arcane and irrelevant, but it is a ceremony intended to bind king, people and Christ together by means of covenantal promises, says David Campanale

When King Charles III enters Westminster Abbey with his consort, Queen Camilla, by his side, trumpets making the proclamation of his coronation will be broadcast across the planet. 

In the echoes of history and pageant, a central gospel message will also sound: the confession by Britain’s political order that Christ is Lord. It will mark a renewed submission to the Lamb of God’s heavenly reign, to which all temporal power is limited, contingent and accountable.