At the end of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, will invite everyone around the UK and Commonwealth to recite in unison an oath of allegiance to the King.

The ceremony on Saturday, May 6, will be the first time such a ritual has been part of the Coronation.

The Archbishop will call all who so desire to say:

“I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty,
and to your heirs and successors according to law.
So help me God.”

A fanfare will then be played and those who wish will be asked to add:

“God save King Charles.
Long live King Charles.
May The King live for ever.”

The first part of the pledge, officially named the Homage of the People, is very similar to the oath or affirmation of allegiance to the Monarch that new citizens must take upon naturalisation in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms.

The Journal spoke to people in the city centre to ask their views. 

This will be Stephen, 81, and Pauline, 79, Rance’s second coronation.

Pauline said, given that participation is not compulsory, she didn’t see it as problematic.

She said: “I think they can do what they like, the same as everybody else in this country does. If they think that would be a good idea they can say it and people can take it or leave it.”

Dean Winsley, 64, of St Marks, said the pledge is contrary to a modernised monarchy.

Dean said: “We’re supposed to be moving to a new modern monarchy. I support the monarchy, but I want to see a lot of the old anachronistic things gone, so I won’t be doing it.”

Jordan Fitzpatrick, 24, of Salisbury, said: “I think they’re in another world. It might be based on reality, but the people today don’t live to that type of standard. We’re not as godly as we used to be. Even if people were to do it, there’s no significance to it.”