After living his entire life as the successor to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, Charles III finally met his destiny on Saturday as he was formally crowned King in the country's first coronation since 1953.

The solid gold St. Edward's Crown, a revered and historic representation of the monarch's power, was put on Charles's head by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at 12:02 p.m.

At the height of the solemn religious confirmation of his ascension, trumpet fanfares and cries of "God Save the King" erupted from the 2,300-person Westminster Abbey crowd.

Outside, churches all around the nation rang their bells in jubilation as ceremonial cannon salutes boomed out across land and sea.

The lead-up to the 1,000-year-old Christian ceremony of prayer and praise, complete with magnificent regalia and opulent robes, has largely been joyous.

However, police arrested hundreds of demonstrators before Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75, even left Buckingham Palace for a soggy procession to the abbey. They did this by utilizing new powers that were hurriedly added to the law book to target direct action organizations.

Climate activists Just Stop Oil reported holding 19 of its members, while the anti-monarchy movement Republic, which calls for an elected head of state, claimed six of its organizers were jailed.

On the parade route, however, scores of Republic activists hoisted banners that read, "Not My King."

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed concern over the arrests. According to HRW, this is something you would anticipate seeing in Moscow rather than London.

The Metropolitan Police of London has approximately 11,500 officers on the streets as part of one of its largest security operations ever. Having a "extremely low threshold" for protests, it has issued a warning.

It was the first crowning of a king since 1937 and the first in 70 years. It was only the second to be shown on television and the first to be streamed online in color.