New crown emoji revealed ahead of King Charles's May coronation

Buckingham Palace says the new emoji is based on the 17th-century St Edward's Crown

A new crown emoji released by the British royal family to mark the coronation of King Charles III on May 6. Photo: Buckingham Palace

Britain's royal family revealed new details about King Charles III's coronation next month, including a new Twitter emoji based on the crown the monarch will wear at the landmark ceremony.

King Charles, 74, became king when Queen Elizabeth II died last September after her record-breaking 70-year reign, but will be formally crowned at a May 6 service inside London's Westminster Abbey.

The three-day weekend will also feature a star-studded concert, nationwide "big lunch" and volunteering initiatives, as well as the traditional royal processions associated with the coronation.

Unveiling a host of ceremonial details, Buckingham Palace said the new emoji created to mark the historic occasion is based on the 17th-century St Edward's Crown.

The centrepiece of Britain's famous Crown Jewels and worn by the monarch's late mother at her coronation in 1953, it has been altered for him to wear seven decades later.

The motif will appear on Twitter when any of various hashtags, including #Coronation, #CoronationBigLunch and #TheBigHelpOut, are used.

It follows royal social media channels deploying a crown-wearing corgi emoji, named PJ, for Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee last year, only three months before her death at age 96.

Corgis were the queen's favourite canine breed.

Scaled-down service

The latest plans released for the coronation ceremony, as part of which King Charles's wife Camilla will be crowned queen consort, confirmed it will be less elaborate than the one staged in 1953.

The royal couple will travel along a shorter procession route and break with tradition by only using the elaborate 260-year-old Gold State Coach on their return to Buckingham Palace.

The pair will make the 2.1-kilometre outward journey, known as the King's Procession, from the palace in the more modern and comfortable Diamond Jubilee State Coach.

It has shock absorbers, heating and air conditioning.

The service will begin at 11am (2pm GST) and is expected to be much shorter than the one in 1953, when it lasted almost three hours.

The palace also confirmed the priceless array of regalia from the Crown Jewels to be used during the hour-long ceremony, which will include among other elements an orb, swords and sceptres.