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London: The invitation to the coronation, florid and colourful, almost conveyed an air of informality. As though King Charles III himself had whipped it up one afternoon at Highgrove while tinkering with a palette of watercolours in the garden.
In fact, it was designed by heraldic artist Andrew Jamieson, from the Art Workers’ Guild, of which Charles is an honorary member, and opened with:
“By command of the King, the Earl Marshal is directed to invite …”
About the size of a vinyl album, it was the regal equivalent of a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary arrive at the coronation.Credit: Getty
Some 8000 people were invited to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, an occasion of pomp and pageantry almost without rival in British history. Which made the biggest challenge of replicating that in 2023 one of simple numbers: the guest list for this coronation was trimmed to just 2300.
The list was vast, spanning foreign heads of government, heads of state, theirs and other royal families, as well as members of the public, key stakeholders of the various charities whose patrons are royals and, filling the last seats, the couple’s friends.
US President Joe Biden did not attend, but his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, did. (No sitting US president has ever attended a British coronation.) Among leaders present were British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the prime ministers of New Zealand and Canada, Chris Hipkins and Justin Trudeau. Australia’s Governor-General, David Hurley, also attended.
The royal family, whose genetic tendrils stretch further than most people realise, presented its own logistical challenges. Aside from the seating headache of what to do with royals-in-exile such as Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, there were the cousins to consider: the families of the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester, as well as Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and their offspring, including the Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor, Lord Nicholas Windsor, Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Kingston.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.Credit: Getty
Once you have all of them seated, you have to tackle the crowned heads of Europe, various other royals, some of whom still hold constitutional positions in their home countries, others who have been ousted in coups, uprisings and revolutions. Say what you like about them, it’s tough being a monarch in the new millennium.
Dignitaries included some staple regulars on the state occasion circuit, such as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II, Crown Prince Frederik and Australian-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
Also, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, the sultans of Brunei and Oman, the King of Morocco, the King and Queen of Bhutan, the Emir of Qatar, King Letsie III of Lesotho and the King of Tonga.
The Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Harry, Zara Tindall and the Duke of Gloucester.Credit: Getty
Almost a third of those who attended, however, fell into neither of those two groups. They were representatives of charities and community organisations, and celebrities with a connection to the coronation, or to Charles and Camilla directly.
Julie Bishop, for example, one of Australia’s more prominent republicans, attended through her role as chair of the Prince’s Trust in Australia. She sat next to American singer Lionel Richie, snapping an Instagram selfie with him outside.
Richie is singing at Sunday night’s concert, a gig that scored him a ticket. Ditto Katy Perry. The host of the British television program The Repair Shop, Jay Blades, is a friend of the King. As are the actresses Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joanna Lumley and Emma Thompson, all present.
Other celebrities in attendance included I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, David and Victoria Beckham, television adventurer (and Chief Scout) Bear Grylls and British Vogue magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful.
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