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
assess his momentous life. also tonight. in pakistan, 33 million people are now said to be affected in some way by the worst flooding in the country s history. floods happen during the monsoon here every year but not like this. britain s pub chains say that without urgent government help the industry will be devastated by rising energy bills. and the british number one emma raducanu says it s all about positive energy as she prepares to defend her us open title. and as well as the latest from the us open. coming up on the bbc news channel, there s a saints stunner at southampton. we ll have all tonight s premier league action. the former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev, one of the most influential statesman of the 20th century has died at the age of 91. the news was announced by russian news agencies within the last hour. mikhail gorbachev came to power in 1985 and ended the so called cold war between east and west, a process which led to the reunification of germany eventual
sir bobby charlton. sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here s will perry. it evening. thousands of people have lined the streets of manchester to honour one of england football s greatest players. a member of the i966 greatest players. a member of the 1966 world cup winning squad with manchester united, the funeral cortege of sir bobby passed by old trafford to applause manchester united, bobby passed by old trafford to applause from the thousands gathered. the united legend died last month at the age of 86. he meant everything to me. my family talked about charlton he meant everything to me. my family talked about charlton growing - he meant everything to me. my family talked about charlton growing up. - talked about charlton growing up. the world cup winner, how much he meant. my dad supported livable and he said what a great player he was quitting then s greatest ever. the quitting then s greatest ever. the createst quitting then s greatest ever. t
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