The holy oil, which will be used to anoint Charles on May 6, was consecrated in Jerusalem

A ceremony to make the oil sacred took place in The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was led by the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, and the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, The Most Reverend Hosam Naoum.

It has been created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives, at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the Monastery of the Ascension.

Mr Naoum said on Friday he had “felt a deep sense of spiritual experience”.

The archbishop added: “So what has been happening today, I think there is that thread, that this – the consecration of the oil for the enthronement and the Coronation – brings about something of profound meaning.

“Both to King Charles, to the church and Jerusalem, to the Holy Land, and I think to the whole world.”

Charles has strong links with the Holy Land because his grandmother Princess Alice, who harboured a Jewish family in Greece during the Second World War, is buried at the Russian Orthodox church of St Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.

He last visited her tomb in 2020 during a visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and laid flowers.

The oil is stored in a bottle and traditionally held secretly by the Dean of Westminster at Westminster Abbey.

It was made with olives and perfumed with sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin and amber, and orange blossom, and it will not use any animal ingredients.

During the ceremony, it is kept in a solid gold flask called an ampulla – an artefact shaped like an eagle.

The anointing of a new monarch is so sacred it takes place under a canopy, transforming the moment into a deeply personal experience between the sovereign and God.

The King will also receive the orb, coronation ring and sceptre, be crowned with the majestic St Edward’s Crown, and be blessed during the historic ceremony.

Camilla will also be anointed with holy oil and crowned, just like the Queen Mother was crowned Queen in 1937.

/The conductor at King Charles's coronation is Greek - Byzantine music for the ceremony