A coronation can refer to both the literal act of placing a crown on a monarch’s head as well as the religious ceremony during which a sovereign is crowned.

But we’re here to talk about the coronation of Charles III, the former Prince of Wales and the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, set to take place on Saturday, May 6. Charles became king of the Britons the moment his mother died last September, but accession to the throne is typically a somber affair, most often taking place under the pall of death. A coronation, on the other hand, is pure celebration.

King Charles’s coronation service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. London time, meaning that it will begin very early in the morning in the United States — 6 a.m. on the East Coast, 3 a.m. on the West.

If you’re in Britain, you won’t have to look far. BBC, ITV and Sky News are all expected to televise the ceremony live. Major American networks including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News are set to do so, too, but for live coverage, including video and real-time analysis, nytimes.com is the best place to be.

Why, naturally. The Coronation Concert, an event produced and broadcast by the BBC, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 7, at Windsor Castle. The concert will be attended by members of the public, but the process of obtaining a ticket wasn’t your usual Ticketmaster free-for-all. Unlike, say, a Taylor Swift concert, admission required filling out a ballot — now closed — on the BBC’s website, and would-be guests had to be from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Isles or the Isle of Man to apply. Of these hopefuls, 5,000 were selected; those who were picked are invited to bring along the plus-one they “nominated” during the application process.

The full lineup has yet to be confirmed, but the BBC recently reported that Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and the Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli would be among the performers. We also know a bit about who won’t be there: According to The Guardian, Adele and Elton John have sent their regrets, citing scheduling conflicts, and Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and the Spice Girls have also declined invitations to perform.

In Britain, where Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every coronation since 1066, the ceremony has remained essentially unchanged for nearly a thousand years. But in keeping with Charles’s stated vision for a smaller, more modern monarchy, his coronation ceremony is expected to be shorter, smaller and less expensive than those of monarchs past. Buckingham Palace said it planned to send invitations to “over 2,000 guests”; compare that with the 8,000 invitations sent out for each of the two most recent coronations, those of Elizabeth II (1953) and George VI (1937).

After several years of very public family fallouts, a question mark hovered for months over whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would make the journey from California to London for the big day.

Finally, Buckingham Palace confirmed in a clipped statement that Prince Harry would attend the coronation — alone. Meghan will remain in the United States with the couple’s children, Prince Archie, who turns 4 the day of the coronation, and Princess Lilibet, 1.

It will be the first time Prince Harry will have been seen with the royal family since his bombshell memoir, “Spare,” was published in January. Let’s see if he makes the front row of the seating plan.

Well, almost certainly not you. The coronation is a state ceremony, so the government carefully manages the guest list, and only some 2,000 attendees have been invited. The list consists primarily of members of the royal family, including little ones, like 9-year-old Prince George and his even younger siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. There’s also a select group of former prime ministers and members of Parliament, world leaders, foreign monarchs and faith leaders.

But even among the elite, snubs aren’t uncommon: Some who were certain that they would be invited have begun to accept that their invitation wasn’t lost in the mail.

Glad you asked. Partying is a key part of the coronation celebration, so of course there are royally recommended forms of letting loose (if you’re not one of the select few invited to the actual ceremony). Pubs throughout England and Wales will stay open an extra two hours during coronation weekend so people can toast the new king’s reign over a pint or two. And as is the case with major events like a jubilee or a royal wedding, street parties are all the rage. There’s also the Coronation Big Lunch, a series of community picnics organized in honor of the occasion. The government even set up a digital party map, where people are encouraged to share their celebration plans.

Why, Operation Golden Orb, of course.

Physically? Just over two pounds. Metaphorically? Much, much more.

The Imperial State Crown, last seen in public resting atop the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in September.Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

There are indeed physical invitations, and they’re just as fancy as you would expect. Hand-painted in watercolor and gouache and detailed with gold foil, the invitations feature imagery evoking a wildflower meadow replete with wild strawberries, lilies of the valley, a sprig of rosemary, a bee, a ladybug and a robin. It also features both Their Majesties’ coats of arms and the Green Man, an ancient folklore figure who symbolizes spring and rebirth. The invitation was designed by Andrew Jamieson, who, according to a statement from the royal family, is a “heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator whose work is inspired by the chivalric themes of Arthurian legend.”

Across the United Kingdom, an official bank holiday has been set for Monday, May 8, intended as an extra day of national celebration after the weekend’s festivities. Like so much of the planning for Charles’s coronation, the proclamation follows an established precedent: A bank holiday was also put on the books to mark Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

During a congratulatory call with King Charles in early April, President Biden said that the first lady, Jill Biden, would be attending the coronation on behalf of the United States. According to The Associated Press, no sitting president has ever attended the coronation ceremony of a British sovereign.

Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, in 1953, was the first to be televised, with an estimated 27 million people in Britain watching the ceremony on television and an estimated global audience of 250 million people. It is expected that hundreds of millions around the world will also tune in to Charles’s coronation, and roughly 30 million people in Britain, where big screens will be put up all across the country to encourage Britons to watch the spectacle together.

Though Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was full of glamour and tiaras, in keeping with King Charles’s modernized-monarchy theme, this one will be more like the Casual Friday version of a coronation. (Relatively speaking, of course.) Members of the House of Lords have been instructed to swap their special coronation crimson velvet-’n’-ermine robes and coronets (silver circlets with ermine trim and velvet linings) for business attire or the standard robes they wear for the opening of Parliament. Regular guests will wear (if they are women) “day dress” or (if they are men) either a morning coat, a suit or a military uniform. In both cases, “celebratory national dress” is also allowed, as are “decorations” (presumably this means of the military/state sort, not tinsel). Even hats are optional. Though we can always hope for some truly eye-popping fascinators.

With a coronation comes pomp, circumstance and a hefty price tag. But who’s footing the bill? As the BBC reported, a coronation is considered a state event and the cost will be covered by the British government.

So just how much will the coronation set back taxpayers amid a cost-of-living crisis? While Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, tried to reassure the public that the coronation would not be a display of “lavishness and excess,” The Guardian estimated it could cost as much as 100 million pounds — a significant increase from Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, which reportedly cost 1.57 million pounds in 1953, or $54 million adjusted for inflation.

Yes, and “Daddy Cool” by Boney M. is the second song on it. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, an actual department in the real British government, dropped a 27-song Coronation Celebration Playlist — no skips — that includes some songs Charles could conceivably belt in the shower (“Come Together” by the Beatles, “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie) and some he almost certainly does not (“Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush). Fingers crossed for a royal cover of the Spice Girls classic “Say You’ll Be There.”

Well, he’s not joking. There is a coronation quiche, and apparently, it’s even quite tasty. According to The Guardian, the recipe was created by Mark Flanagan, the head chef of the royal kitchen, and it was picked by King Charles and Queen Camilla as a signature dish for their subjects to eat during national street party coronation celebrations. It contains spinach, broad beans, cheddar cheese, tarragon and lard. Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation had a signature dish called “poulet Reine Elizabeth,” a chicken preparation featuring a curry cream sauce that became a national staple now known as coronation chicken.

Sampling a coronation quiche at Westminster Abbey recently, after it was baked fresh in Buckingham Palace’s kitchen, Dame Prue Leith, a judge on the competition show “The Great British Bake Off,” reported that it was “absolutely delicious.” She added that “there was no soggy bottom, the custard was not overcooked and dry and the balance of tarragon was perfect — a really good quiche.”

Is the king Anglican? Yes, there will be memorabilia to commemorate the coronation. Some products, like a special line of mugs and plates released by the British ceramics brand Emma Bridgewater, are traditional. Others — like the boxes of “Coronation Flakes” that a surgeon for Britain’s National Health Service created in his spare time — are more unusual.

Royal likenesses, coats of arms and official insignia cannot typically be used for commercial products without permission from the royal family. But in February, Buckingham Palace released a statement announcing that “rules governing the commercial use of royal photographs and official insignia may be temporarily relaxed to allow their use on souvenirs marking the coronation.”

Prince George, second in line to the throne at only 9 years old, has been announced as one of his grandfather’s four pages of honor; the queen consort will have four pages of honor of her own. All eight children will wear matching scarlet uniforms and carry small, ceremonial swords as they form part of the king’s coronation procession at Westminster Abbey, which will be about a third of the size it was for the late Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

From left, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George.Pool photo by Aaron Chown

Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, will attend the coronation but are expected to sit among the congregation. Whether Prince Louis will repeat his show-stealing performance of hilarious facial expressions, last seen from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during his great-grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee, remains to be seen.

No. Just as the 2005 wedding that made Camilla a royal did not confer any special titles on her two children from a previous marriage, Thomas Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, neither will her coronation affect their standing.

Both! Though not at once, of course. The king and the queen consort are expected to travel back from the coronation ceremony in the 260-year-old Gold State Coach. Built in 1762, the eight-horse-drawn coach will be flanked by representatives from the armed forces of the 14 Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom, which include Canada, Jamaica and New Zealand.

Pool photo by Dominic Lipinski

It might look fit for a king, but the late Queen Elizabeth called her own coronation journey in the coach “horrible” and “not very comfortable” given the lack of modern suspension. So it came as little surprise when the BBC reported that Charles and Camilla would use the Diamond Jubilee State Coach for the (longer) outbound leg of their coronation journey. First used in 2014, it was built in — whispering tones — Australia and offers air conditioning, electric windows and mercifully up-to-date suspension to ease the king’s passage.

King Charles will wear two different crowns on the day of his coronation: the St. Edward’s Crown, made in 1661, and the Imperial State Crown, made in 1937. The St. Edward’s Crown, which is set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines, will be used only during the coronation ceremony, for the moment of the crowning. Before he leaves Westminster Abbey, Charles will change into the Imperial State Crown, which is used at other state events, like the opening of Parliament. That crown is set with 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and four rubies.

Camilla will wear Queen Mary’s Crown for the coronation — the first time in modern history that an existing crown will be used for the coronation of a consort. Made for Queen Mary’s coronation in 1911, the crown is set with 2,200 diamonds.

The coronation spoon — a silver-gilt spoon with pearls — is the oldest piece of regalia used in the coronation. According to the Royal Collection Trust, the spoon was first recorded in 1349 and is believed to date to the 12th century. It is used in the anointing of the sovereign, a sacred part of the ceremony that maintains an air of mystery and is not televised, taking place behind a specially created screen designed by the iconographer Aidan Hart. This year, the oil was pressed from olives near Bethlehem, infused with essential oils (including sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin amber and orange blossom) and consecrated in Jerusalem.

No, but if he did, he wouldn’t be the first! Beginning with King Charles II in the 17th century, monarchs have typically faced the opposite direction from their predecessor on coins. But according to the royal family’s website, Edward VIII, who ruled for less than a year before abdicating the throne in December 1936, sought to break with tradition because he preferred his profile when facing to the left. Edward’s successor, his younger brother King George VI, restored the tradition, facing left as if Edward had faced right.

King Charles will follow suit and face left, since Queen Elizabeth II faced right.

First, what is a royal warrant? A royal warrant of appointment is granted in recognition of people or companies that have regularly supplied goods or services to a monarch or a royal household. There are currently around 800 warrants that have been issued to manufacturers including the fashion brands Burberry and Barbour, the chocolate company Cadbury, the carmaker Aston Martin and fancy grocery store Waitrose.

While existing warrant holders can retain warrants for two years after the death of grantors, like Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, those issued by the late queen have technically become void. Holders will now have to reapply to the Royal Warrant Holders Association under King Charles, who is currently the only grantor. (The 180 royal warrants Charles issued as the Prince of Wales will continue now that he is king, as they go with the household, not the title.)

Notes from the association state that there will be a review by the royal household on a change of sovereign. King Charles is also known to be quite specific in his tastes and the arenas to which he offers support, such as nature conservation and organic farming. That means many companies are now on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether they will be able to keep their coveted stamps of approval. Watch this space.

Yes. According to The Times of London, his name is Hugo Burnand and he was a longtime society photographer for Tatler magazine. He is a trusted favorite of the royal family who took King Charles and Queen Camilla’s 2005 wedding portraits and, in 2011, the nuptial portraits for Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Mr. Burnand follows in the footsteps of Cecil Beaton, whose coronation portraits of a serene Queen Elizabeth in 1953 helped shape her public image as a young and revitalizing monarch for a new era.

The Earl Marshal — a hereditary position held by the Duke of Norfolk since 1386 — is the title typically held by the highest-ranking duke in the country, and a role that involves overseeing major ceremonial occasions for the royal family.

The current (and 18th) Duke of Norfolk is Edward Fitzalan Howard, who, as well as planning the coming coronation, was also in charge of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee and, just a few months later, her funeral.

Thank goodness you asked! The Stone of Destiny (also known as the Stone of Scone) is an ancient sandstone block weighing 336 pounds that was used for centuries in the coronation of Scottish kings before being seized in 1296 by King Edward I, who had it built into a throne at Westminster Abbey. There it lay until Christmas Day 1950, when, in an audacious caper, four Scottish nationalist students tried to steal it and take it back north of the border. Eventually, in 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland. Now, top-secret and high-security preparations are being made to take it back down to Westminster Abbey for the coronation.

Legend says that the stone groans when the rightful sovereign sits on it but remains silent beneath a conqueror.

The Charleses have all had a taste for provoking a little scandal and uproar, albeit to varying degrees. Charles I became king in 1625 and during his reign amassed one of the largest and most extravagant art collections in Europe. He also spent its entirety in conflict with his Parliament, largely thanks to his efforts to impose an absolute monarchy against the interests of Parliament, his attempts to raise taxes and his marriage to a Catholic. Eventually, these tipped into the English Civil War, and eventually his downfall. After Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan followers triumphed in 1648, Charles was executed for high treason and the monarchy was abolished. Yikes.

After the execution of his father, Charles II was forced to live in exile in continental Europe. But after Cromwell’s death plunged England into more chaos, Charles was able to reclaim the throne in 1660. Known as the Merry Monarch, Charles II was also an avid art collector and set about attempting to recover much of his father’s vast collection, beginning a period of British history known as the Restoration. When he died in 1685, he left behind many illegitimate children but no rightful heir. His brother, James II, took the throne.

According to Westminster Abbey, at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, a man with the unfortunate name Lord Rolle fell down the stairs while paying his respects. Also, a bishop “painfully” forced the queen’s coronation ring onto the wrong finger.

On Saturday, it’s going to be Charles, Charles, Charles. But what about Prince Archie? May 6 is also the fourth birthday of Archie, the firstborn of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Unlike his father, Archie will not be attending the coronation. Saturday is also the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, where American hats will provide a gleeful split screen to British fascinators. Before the writers’ strike got underway, the comedian Pete Davidson had been set to return to Studio 8H that evening to host “Saturday Night Live.” But four days before the episode was set to air, NBC officially announced that the show would not go on.