7 May 2023
King's Coronation
The Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla has been marked in Australia with a national 21 gun salute.
Australia’s Federation Guard (AFG) conducted the gun salute, a traditional sign of respect to mark royal and other special occasions, on the forecourt of Parliament House.
The first gun fired at 3pm AEST and then every 10 seconds after that from a gun line of six guns, taking three and a half minutes to complete the salute.
AFG Gun Position Officer Lieutenant Jay Bowden said he was honoured to lead the gun salute to the new monarch King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
“Marking the reign of a new King or Queen is a rare and special occasion and I feel privileged to be part of such an historic event,” Lieutenant Bowden said.
Staff Officer Australian Defence Force (ADF) Ceremonial, Commander Susanna Hung, said that regrettably, the planned low-level flypast over the forecourt of Parliament House following the gun salute was cancelled due to bad weather.
“Unfortunately, similarly to what happened in the United Kingdom yesterday, the poor weather conditions meant we weren’t able to conduct our flypast over Canberra,” Commander Hung said.
“However, it was an honour to ensure the national 21 gun salute took place.”
The Australian national 21 gun salute follows the King’s Coronation in London on May 6, where about 40 ADF personnel marched as part of the Commonwealth military forces contingent during the Coronation ceremony.
In line with The King’s wishes, the ADF, represented by the AFG, marched in the Coronation Procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
This weekend a number of significant buildings and monuments around Australia have been illuminated in royal purple to celebrate the Coronation.
Defence joined the illuminations by lighting the Russell Offices royal purple after dark.
