A young Kiwi is set to play a unique role during King Charles III's coronation this weekend, ringing church bells across London to mark the occasion.
Dylan Thomas, a 19-year-old who went to school at Kapiti College, is an internationally acclaimed bell-ringing maestro, having won awards for his skill.
He got into bell ringing after watching YouTube videos on the art, signing up to participate at St Paul's Cathedral in Wellington.
Thomas is now on a two-year excursion to the UK, where he's ringing bells at some of the world's oldest churches.
Over the weekend, he’ll be travelling across London, ringing bells at dozens of churches, creating what he calls "joyous noise".
"There's gonna be a lot of ringing spread out over the two days," he told 1News.
He said that on coronation day itself, there's going to be non-stop ringing for about three hours, which roughly equates to 5000 rings for each bell.
"That's sort of a festive thing that we do just for special occasions.
"But I have the same role as everyone else, make the most accurate and best-sounding noise possible to mark this very unique occasion."
He said that participating in the festivities was "really cool" - especially since he hadn't been able to ring during the Queen's funeral.
"I was in Europe at the time, where there are no full circle bells, so that I couldn’t ring. I was really annoyed about that.
"But to be able to ring for the new king and ring for a joyous occasion, rather than a sad occasion, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
He called it a "very special, unique thing that I’m gonna treasure for the rest of my life."
Melissa Stokes and Daniel Faitaua will host 1News Presents: Their Majesties' Coronation from 7pm on Saturday, May 6 on TVNZ 1, TVNZ+ and 1News.co.nz
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