The soldier in charge of military's coronation role

Sergeant Major Andrew "Vern" Stokes is in charge of military and ceremonial aspects of the event

A soldier in charge of all military aspects of the King's coronation says "no stone has been left unturned" in preparation for the event.

Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew "Vern" Stokes, of the Coldstream Guards, said the "sheer scale" of the programme had been a challenge.

He had been working with a team to design a parade "fit for a king" since January, he said.

"The time for nerves is now gone," added GSM Stokes from Telford.

"We've trained everybody to the best of their ability and it's a case now of delivering."

The coronation is to be held at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday with a procession from Buckingham Palace to the site involving 200 members of the armed forces.

Another 1,000 service personnel will line the route.

The senior soldier has been involved in the planning of the King's Coronation

"I've delivered the orders and the briefings and the team here has delivered the training," GSM Stokes said. Final preparations are taking place on Friday.

He explained a lot of planning had involved trying to provide the music to support the event.

"We tried all different methods and we've come up with one now that supports trying to get 19 military bands - so about 800 musicians - to play the same music at the same time in the same bar, over the distance of a mile and a half, which is a challenge but we've managed to do that."

The soldier was photographed inspecting The Mall ahead of the Queen's funeral

The senior soldier was also heavily involved in the funerals of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh

"Her Majesty's funeral was estimated to have been watched by four billion people - so I'm used to a large audience," he said.

"Success looks like a national day for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, reflecting on the King as head of nation," he said.

He added he was "very much" looking forward to Saturday night.

"I've got friends and family and my girlfriend Sue coming to London to watch the parade," he explained.

"Once everything is finished, and the Royal Air Force flypast is finished, I shall go and meet them and hopefully have a couple of drinks somewhere nice."