good evening, welcome to the programme. we are at buckingham palace tonight, ahead of the big event on saturday the coronation of king charles iii and queen camilla. we have a packed programme for you tonight, we will be looking ahead to this most ancient of ceremonies at westminster abbey, in the company of two people who were there in 1953, in fact one of our guests, even sang at the christening of the king in 1948. we have tv royalty on hand, as well, where katty kay is standing by for us. leaving nothing to chance on an occasion like this. we will talk about what the coronation is, what is isn t, the role the king has played in the preparations, and how the people, the commonwealth, and the different faiths will be included. and at 9pm, the royal watchers will be here robert hardman and christine ross joining us. both of them are taking part in the bbc s coverage. but let us begin with what the royals have been doing today. the king is in residence here at buckingham
rain, a king who is a very modern man, and a ceremony which is largely the same as 900 years ago, but tweaked and streamlined in each rain, so it changes. and for me, but i really picked up strongly as press secretary in the 1990s, quite a difficult time, is that the strength of our monarchy is that it is able to adapt and change, its able to absorb difficulty and to make changes. and in that sense, i don t think it s a crusty organisation or institution. he think it s a crusty organisation or institution. . . institution. he is certainly a modernising institution. he is certainly a modernising figure, - institution. he is certainly a modernising figure, and - institution. he is certainly a modernising figure, and we lli institution. he is certainly a - modernising figure, and we ll talk through this evening of the changes even to the 1953 coronation. but it is that time when people put a focus on the royal family and its on the royalfamily and its role, and its connection to our co