King Charles will be formally crowned at his coronation in May, and the lavish event is set to be “more inclusive” after recent royal controversies about a host of cultural topics.
Royal expert Jennie Bond has revealed how the ceremony will also be more “inclusive, relevant and less archaic” than Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth’s coronation back in 1953.
The 74-year-old’s scaled-back crowning will “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry,” the former BBC correspondent told OK! magazine.
Bond, 72, added that the coronation is “clearly going to be a big event” and might even be “more enormous than the funeral of the queen in terms of state attendees.”
Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, and her eldest son immediately ascended to the throne following her passing.
King Charles (right) became the monarch of the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth Realms in September 2022 following the passing of his mother Queen Elizabeth.Getty Images Bond claimed Charles is hard at work to make the event a more modern affair and is even planning it alongside his wife and “guardian angel Camilla.”
“When we saw him make his first speech as king, we saw that change in tone — being king is his solemn duty,” she said.
“He clearly felt the weight of the job on his shoulders and that will be apparent in the coronation. It will be a mixture of a little less of the stiff, ancient formality, but it will retain the basic structure of something extremely important happening,” Bond continued.
The British journalist also claimed that the ceremony would be a symbol of “unity” amid tensions in the royal family between his estranged son Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle and his other son Prince William.
From the balcony of Buckingham Palace, Meghan Markle (from left), her husband Prince Harry, his brother Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton watch a flypast marking the centenary of the Royal Air Force on July 10, 2018. Getty Images Despite their troubled relationship with the Firm, Markle, 41, and Harry, 38, have scored an invite to the coronation.
“Events such as the coronation, which will be both a joyful occasion as well as a solemn one, do a great deal to shore up the popularity of the monarchy,” Bond dished. “There will be millions of people watching the pageantry so a big cheer goes up for the monarchy on these great occasions.”
Charles’ enthroning is slated to take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby presiding. The guest list has been capped at 2,000 attendees, and the date has been declared a bank holiday in the United Kingdom.
However, the “more inclusive” sentiment regarding the king’s coronation also comes amid racial controversy surrounding the royals.
Charles stands with his mother Queen Elizabeth II (lower left), his father Prince Philip, and his sister Princess Anne during his investiture as the Prince of Wales in 1969.Bettmann Archive In the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in March 2021, they claimed that a family member questioned how dark their son Archie’s skin would be.
In December 2022, Lady Susan Hussey — William’s godmother and an honorary member of the royal household — came under fire for a racist comment she uttered to Ngozi Fulani at an event. Hussey, 83, later resigned.
