UK coronation to use holy oil

Oils from the Mount of Olives mixed with essential oils in Jerusalem. Pic/AFP

The holy oil to be used to crown Charles as King of the United Kingdom during his coronation ceremony on May 6 has been consecrated at a ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.

The Chrism oil will be symbolically touched to the 74-year-old monarch's head, chest and hands as part of the religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.

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The palace said that the oil has been created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the Monastery of the Ascension in the city in western Asia, the burial place of the King's grandmother Princess Alice of Greece.

The King has also opted for an animal-free option, which is unlike oils used in past coronations, keeping with his environmental concerns.

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