ROYAL FAMILY
King Charles’ grandchildren to have starring role in coronation
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ children will have important roles at the coronation.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are all set to be center place at their grandfather, King Charles III’s coronation on May 6. The royal grandchildren will walk in the coronation procession alongside the elder members of the royal family.
The newly crowned king and the queen consort will ride in the golden chariot as they lead the march from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
The coronation procession is much smaller than it has been in previous years, with documents revealing the number will be about three times smaller.
The children lead the procession march
According to leaked coronation rehearsal plans, the children, eldest brother George, who is nine years old, his younger sister, Charlotte, who is seven years old now but will be eight by the time of the coronation, and the youngest, Louis, who will be five at the time of the coronation, will join their parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, directly behind their grandfather, King Charles, and Queen Consort Camilla, the king’s wife.
“Although the children’s presence has not been confirmed by Kensington Palace,” the Times reports, “documents show that after processing out of the abbey, they are expected to join their parents in a carriage behind the King and Queen, who will be in the Gold State Coach.”
Other senior members of the royal family will join behind them, including Princess Anne, and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
The Wales children’s cousins, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have not been invited to the coronation. Archie’s fourth birthday is May 6, the same day as the coronation, and Lillibet will not quite be two years old by the coronation date.
The Sussexes are invited to the coronation, but there is no trace of the couple in the leaked rehearsal plans for the event.
Princess Charlotte’s sisterly guidance
The older Wales children have had a little bit of experience with formal public ceremonies before.
At a far more somber occasion, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, Prince George and Princess Charlotte were invited to walk in the procession, but Prince Louis was too young at the time.
When it was time to bow, the little prince needed a reminder.
“You have to bow,” the princess told her brother with a nudge.
Prince George promptly bowed, right on cue.