In a few days Charles III. (74) was officially crowned king in front of 2,000 invited guests in London’s Westminster Abbey – a historic event that needs to be well planned and prepared. On the night of Wednesday (May 3rd), Royal fans in London already got a first glimpse of the rehearsals for the big day.

At around 12:20 a.m., hundreds of soldiers in yellow and red military uniforms reenacted the parade down the Mall in the dark, marching the two-kilometre route from Buckingham Palace, past Trafalgar Square and Downing Street, towards Westminster Abbey. The rehearsal parade was led by a brass band; in the midst of the parade drove the coronation carriage “Gold State Coach” and the “Diamond Jubilee State Coach”, accompanied by several soldiers on horseback.

The first big midnight rehearsal for the big event had already taken place in mid-April. According to the BBC, more than 6,000 British military personnel will be involved in the coronation next Saturday (May 6), plus 400 more from Commonwealth countries.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla (76) are scheduled to travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach at around 10:20 a.m. on Saturday. The coronation ceremony begins there at eleven o’clock. Around 1 p.m. the coronation procession leads back to Buckingham Palace – Charles and Camilla then sit in the festive “Gold State Coach”. At around 2:15 p.m., the royal family will appear on the palace balcony.