The unique blend was “scented with essential oils”.
Jerusalem:
Olive oil, scented roses and orange blossoms: Special “chrism” or holy anointing oil has been blessed in Jerusalem’s Old City for the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III.
Friday’s ceremony was held at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried.
“The oil that will be used to anoint Her Majesty the King on 6 May 2023 has been consecrated in Jerusalem,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The unique blend was “scented with essential oils”, and also included extracts of sesame, jasmine and cinnamon.
The palace said on Friday that it is based on a formula that has been used for hundreds of years, based on the oil used at Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation.
The oil, which would also be used to anoint Queen Consort Camilla, wife of King Charles III, was specially consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Hossam Naum.
Now stored in an ornate silver flask, the oil came from the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the walled old city.
Olives were harvested from two groves, the Monastery of the Ascension and the Monastery of Mary Magdalene, where Charles III’s grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, is buried.
The olives were pressed just outside the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Church, said the coronation oil reflected Charles III’s “personal familial connection with the Holy Land”, the palace statement said.
Welby, who will officiate at the coronation, said the oil reflects the “deep historical link between coronations, the Bible and the Holy Land”.
“From the ancient kings till today, kings have been anointed with oil from this holy place,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Indian Army soldiers showed their cricket skills in Galvan Valley