Everything you need to know about the King’s coronation

• It’s been 70 years since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Now it’s the turn of her son, King Charles III.
• The coronation will take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey. Follow Stuff’s live blog of the event from 6pm on Saturday.
• After the service, the royals return to Buckingham Palace where it all wraps up with the balcony appearance.
• Stuff will have a full round up of the events on Sunday morning including news, colourful coverage and style.

Unless you’ve been living under an ancient Stone of Destiny-sized rock for the past few months, you’re probably aware that there’s some big royal event happening this weekend.

For the first time in 70 years the British are crowning the new monarch on the weekend, with the King (and Queen’s) coronation set to take place on Saturday night (NZ time).

We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about their majesties’ Coronation.

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What even is the Coronation?

It’s been a few decades between drinks, so most of us wouldn’t have had the pleasure of witnessing the pomp, pageantry, religion and handful of crowns that come together to formalise the crowning of a monarch.

Basically Charles will take an oath to uphold the law and the church before being anointed with holy oil while sitting in the Coronation Chair on top of the Stone of Destiny.

Don’t expect to see much while this goes down, though. A screen will provide “absolute privacy” for this very public, televised part of the formalities.

Next up, the King is presented with orbs, swords, sceptres and a ring that all make up part of the Crown Jewels. He’ll then be crowned with the St Edward’s Crown (although he’ll leave wearing a different one).

Once it’s all over the King and Queen will travel to Buckingham Palace where they’ll receive a royal salute and three cheers from the military.

Is there going to be anything super weird?

King Charles has 1000 years of tradition to uphold, in case you were wondering – a thousand year’s worth of royal tradition has a few odd steps involved, as Stuff reporter Kylie Klein-Nixon investigated.

There’s a chance Charles could be decked out in silk shorts and stockings, he’ll be adorned in bracelets and his ring may not fit.

What about Camilla?

The Queen gets her own crowning during the ceremony, although hers will likely be a little less flashy, and she won’t have her own rock.

Hang on … Stone of Destiny?

Indeed. The 150kg block of sandstone was stolen from the Scots about 700 years ago by Edward I.

Legend has it the stone was said to roar with joy once it recognised the true monarch, and the stolen stone was turned into a throne for British Kings.

It was later given back to Scotland, but was shipped in for the King’s big day and even gets to sit atop its own Coronation chair.

OK, I’m in. Where and when can I watch it?

Coverage of the ceremony will kick off on TVNZ1 and Three from 7pm on Saturday and UKTV will be starting on air from 6.30pm.

The actual ceremony will kick off at about 10pm.

Want the whole day to have a regal vibe? Plenty of royal documentaries and shows are airing throughout the day in New Zealand. You can find the details of what, when and where here.

Stuff will be live blogging the event from 6pm on Saturday.

Is there any afterparty?

In a way, sure. The Coronation concert from the grounds of Windsor Castle will take place in front of about 20,000 members of the public the next day.

While A-listers like Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, The Spice Girls and Adele gave a hard no to taking the stage, they’ve managed to stack together a decent list of celebs, including Katy Perry and Lionel Ritchie, with Winnie the Pooh and Tom Cruise also tipped to make an appearance.

TVNZ1 will kick off coverage at 8pm, and you can watch on UKTV from 9.30pm.

Do we get a day off work?

Sorry, but you’ll still have to head along to the office come Monday. There will be a bank holiday in the UK, but this was ruled out as an option here back in October.

Will there be any Kiwis there?

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is in the UK with a delegation of prominent Kiwis, including the leader of the opposition Christopher Luxon and Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Vll.

Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, is also in on the action, and his wife Gemma Flynn recently revealed the former rugby star getting himself decked out in a morning coat fit for the occasion.

Willie Apiata, former corporal in the New Zealand Air Service, will attend as well as Abdul Aziz – the New Zealand Cross recipient who defended himself with an Eftpos machine against the Christchurch terror attacker.

New Zealand also has a hand in the actual formalities, with 19-year-old Dylan Thomas – a Kiwi living in the UK – joining the formalities as a bell-ringer, RNZ reported.

What’s the deal with Harry? Is he going?

It may be a little awkward for Harry after his memoir Spare and Netflix documentary last year highlighted the rifts between his immediate family, but Prince Harry will be heading along for the crowning of his Dad.

Don’t expect him to be rocking out front and centre to Katy Perry at the next day’s concert, though. He’s set to fly home to the US two hours later.

What about Meghan and the kids?

Meghan Markle will be staying home in the US with the kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

While Harry’s wife and the children were reportedly not invited to the Coronation, she’s also got plenty to keep her busy back home, with Archie’s fourth birthday falling on the same day as the crowning of the King.

This will be the second year Harry has missed his son’s birthday – he was playing polo last year.

Right, I’m down for a royal weekend. What should I eat?

The signature dish for the event will be Coronation quiché which may not sound super exciting for a royal feast, but makes a bit of sense after it was revealed how little the King reportedly eats to keep himself fit.

If you’re keen to make your own quiché featuring spinach, broad beans, cheese and tarragon, the royals posted the recipe on their website.

If you’d rather eat like the Coronation outcasts, Sarah Ferguson – who was not invited – recently said she will be having tea and a, “coronation chicken sandwich” on the day.

What about booze?

While this may be Charles and Camilla’s day, you could also throw a hat tip to the Queen in the mix and put together her favourite Dubonnet cocktail.

Charles himself is pretty fond of a pre-dinner martini, so grab the olives and cocktail shaker and make a night of it.