COLCHESTER Castle Park’s coronation picnic will take place without a screen to show live action from the ceremony in London.

From 10am on Saturday, the Coronation Picnic in the Park will be held in Upper Castle Park for crowds to enjoy until 4pm.

A 21-gun salute will be delivered just after midday, the moment when King Charles is expected to be officially crowned, from the Lower Castle Park – but the afternoon will take place without a large screen on which to watch live pictures from the coronation.

In London, the action will begin at 10.20am when the procession sets off from Buckingham Palace.

Upper Castle Park is likely to be at its busiest in the mid-afternoon, at which point King Charles and the Queen Consort will be returning to Buckingham Palace from Westminster in a 260-year-old gold state coach, which has been used at every coronation since 1831.

But the absence of a large screen on which to broadcast the ceremony will mean crowds in Colchester may not be able to follow much of the action.

The Royal British Legion in Brightlingsea, however, plans to live stream the main event on Saturday whilst offering tea, cakes, and coffee.