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King Charles III's coronation anniversary is marked by ceremonial gun salutes across London

LONDON (AP) 鈥 Ceremonial gun salutes rang out across London under soggy skies Monday to mark the anniversary of the coronation of King Charles III .
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The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fire a 41 Gun Royal Salute in Green Park to mark the first anniversary of the Coronation of Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla, in London, Monday May 6, 2024. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) 鈥 Ceremonial gun salutes rang out across London under soggy skies Monday to mark the anniversary of the coronation of .

Smoke blasted from the barrels of six large horse-drawn guns in a 41-gun salute in Green Park, next to Buckingham Palace, at noon. An hour later, three guns cracked off a 62-shot salute from Tower Wharf next to the River Thames.

Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned in Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, in a glitzy spectacle that echoed medieval times as he was anointed as monarch following the September 2022 death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The past year has been overshadowed by , but it has helped to humanize him and , who haven't always expected such openness from the royal family.

Rohan Wadke, a visitor to Buckingham Palace, applauded Charles for confiding in the public about his health issues.

鈥淚t鈥檚 still a taboo for a lot of people," Wadke said.

Charles, 75, returned to public-facing duties last week , where he held hands with a patient receiving chemotherapy drugs and told her he was due for treatment that afternoon.

Despite rainfall reminiscent of last year's coronation, visitors still turned out to watch the King鈥檚 Troop Royal Horse Artillery, with gunners in their gold braided jackets, fire off the salute as the Band of the Irish Guards played music in the park next to the palace.

Manda Pillay-Maloney said that she visited the palace Monday 鈥 a holiday in the U.K. 鈥 to recognize the year since Charles was crowned.

鈥淓xcited, happy to be here," Pillay-Maloney said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my first stop since I鈥檝e arrived from Stevenage, just to ... pay my respects and say, hey, thank you ... you鈥檙e doing a good job.鈥

The Associated Press