"I am so grateful"

Charles and Camilla receive their coronation scroll

Charles and Camilla marvel at the coronation scroll.(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Victoria Jones)

21 meters long and around 11,600 handwritten words: almost a year after their coronation, King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla have received the official record of the ceremony. 

Calligrapher Stephanie Gill worked on the so-called Coronation Scroll for 56 consecutive days, as she told the couple at the handover in Buckingham Palace. For the first time, the lavishly decorated "coronation roll" is made of paper and not animal skin, in keeping with Charles' stance on animal welfare.

"Can't tell you how grateful I am"
Charles was impressed by the presentation. "Thank you so much, I can't tell you how grateful I am," said the 75-year-old in conversation with Antonia Romeo, Head of Chancery at the Crown Office.

When his wife Camilla joked that she needed her glasses to read the text, the British head of state replied: "At least it's in English." The text used to be in Latin or French.

Small section of the coronation scroll.(Bild: AP/Victoria Jones/PA via AP)

A centuries-old tradition
The document is part of a centuries-old tradition in which the coronation of a British monarch is recorded by hand.

The scroll contains a detailed description of the ceremony on May 6, 2023 in London's Westminster Abbey and mentions everyone who took part in the historic event - from the procession to the anointing and coronation to a description of the most important moments. The paper will be kept in the National Archives.