The chrism oil for the coronation of British sovereign Charles III on May 6 was consecrated in Jerusalem, Buckingham Palace announced.
The ceremony was held Friday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried, by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III and Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem Hosam Naoum.
The oil will be used to anoint Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, at their coronation in London’s Westminster Abbey on May 6.
The unique blend was “scented with essential oils” and also includes extracts of sesame, jasmine and cinnamon, the Palace detailed.
Made with the same ingredients as the oil used at Queen Elizabeth II‘s coronation in 1953, it is based on a formula “that has been used for hundreds of years,” the Palace noted.
It was made with olives collected in two olive groves on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, in the Monastery of the Ascension and in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, where Charles’s grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, is buried.
The olives were pressed on the outskirts of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
For Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican church and who will officiate at the coronation, this oil reflects “the royal family’s personal bond with the Holy Land.”
“From ancient kings to the present day, monarchs have been anointed with oil from this sacred place,” he said.
