What Happened Behind The Screen During King Charles Coronation?

For us lowly public normies, the coronation proceedings that are normal for a royal event of this calibre can all seem slightly… strange. From the speeches to the anointments, there's a lot of royal traditions most of us have never seen before given this is the first royal coronation since 1953.

But one part in particular seemed to confuse viewers the most, that strange moment Charles disappeared behind a screen for minutes. What was going on behind that screen during the coronation? It's all anyone's Googling, with ‘anointing screen’ a breakout search term.

Well, allow us to explain. It's the most sacred part of the ceremony, according to tradition.

Charles is shielded by a new partition, featuring an embroidered design celebrating the Commonwealth and behind the screen, Charles wears a simple white shirt, representing that he comes before God as a servant. The Dean of Westminster then pours oil from the ampulla into the coronation spoon. The Archbishop of Canterbury will then anoint the King on his hands, breast, and head, using his fingers.

The screen is then removed for the ceremony to continue in public. During Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation, it was actually a canopy that was used to shield the monarch, but Charles opted to be enclosed on three sides.

So, there you have it – that's what went on behind the screen! And if you’re really interested, you might like to know that the actual coronation anointing screen featured a tree with the names of the Commonwealth's 56 member states embroidered onto individual leaves. The two side screens feature an embroidered cross and all are 2.6 metres high and 2.2 metres wide!

There was also a quote embroidered at the bottom that reads ‘All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well’ from the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich.