Camilla’s Coronation companions revealed! Queen will be joined by her sister Annabel Elliot and friend Lady Lansdowne who spoke out against Prince Harry’s biography
- Mrs Annabel Elliot and Lady Lansdowne will join the eight Pages of Honour
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Queen Camilla will be joined by her sister Annabel Elliot and her close friend Lady Lansdowne during the Coronation service next month, it has been revealed.
The royal, 75, axed the centuries-old tradition of having ladies-in-waiting as part of her retinue last September – instead opting to have a fewer number of ‘Queen’s companions’.
In addition to having eight Pages of Honour, the Queen’s ‘companions’ Mrs Elliot, 74, and Lady Lansdowne, 68, will attend Their Majesties as part of the Coronation Service.
During the historic ceremony, Camilla will be crowned with the Queen Mary’s Crown and will have her two confidantes by her side throughout, a source told the MailOnline.
Earlier this month, Lady Lansdowne spoke out against Prince Harry after he branded his stepmother ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ in his bombshell biography Spare.
Queen Camilla, 75, pictured with her younger sister Annabel Elliot, 74, in 2016. The royal’s sibling will be by Camilla’s side during the coronation
Queen Camilla pictured with her close friend Lady Fiona Lansdowne at her home Bowood House in July 2002
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Fiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, said Prince Harry’s comments had ‘hurt’ the Queen.
She said: ‘Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesn’t let it get to her.
‘Her philosophy is always, “Don’t make a thing of it and it will settle down – least said, soonest mended.”‘
Lady Lansdowne has long been a friend of the Queen’s and supported her during the 1990s when details of her relationship with Charles emerged.
Last month, King Charles and Queen Camilla were also by her sister Annabel’s side for the funeral of her husband Simon.
The businessman was married to Annabel for over 50 years and passed away at the age of 82 in March.
Camilla, 75, was known to have a close relationship with the businessman, who Annabel wed in 1972 at the age of 23 – and the couple even joined the royal on her honeymoon to Charles in 2005.
What’s more, the late Queen had around seven devoted ladies-in-waiting – affectionately dubbed the head girls – at the time of her death, some of whom had been by her side for more than 60 years.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be crowned in Westminster Abbey on 6 May in front of 2,000 guests
They dealt with everything from public and personal correspondence and organising the royal diary to accompanying the monarch on engagements, collecting flowers and arranging private family events.
They were also loyal companions to the monarch and operated as her eyes and ears in the Palace.
The roles were unpaid and holders were almost always picked from the upper echelons of the aristocracy as there are few wealthy enough to be able to afford to take on such a demanding position simply out of loyalty to the Crown.
But with most of the existing holders of the roles due to retire, Camilla has decided to organise things ‘a little differently’.
One source previously told the Daily Mail: ‘When she got married and set up her own office for the first time she got two brilliant private secretaries, Amanda Macmanus and Joy Camm.
‘But they were very much “two for the price of one”. Not only did they arrange all her engagements and projects, but they also acted as ladies-in-waiting if needed, accompanying her on official duties, collecting bouquets of flowers and the like.
The late Queen (pictured in April 2022) had seven devoted ladies-in-waiting at the time of her passing in September 2022
‘No one stands on ceremony in her office, everyone mucks in. The feeling is that although things have changed dramatically in many respects, she won’t take on an official line-up of ladies-in-waiting.’
Camilla currently has two loyal and extremely capable female private secretaries, Sophie Densham, and her deputy, Belinda Kim.
As well as organising Camilla’s diary and public engagements, they already accompany her on official visits and will continue to do the same at Buckingham Palace, sources say.
Ahead of the Coronation on May 6, King Charles will host three garden parties at royal palaces in celebration of the coronation.
Thousands of guests will gather on the lawns of Buckingham Palace on May 3, three days before the historic ceremony in Westminster Abbey, and again on May 9.
Another garden party will be hosted at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on July 4 during Holyrood Week.
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