Prince George Set For Role At King Charles’s Coronation, In Break From Royal Precedent

Further details of the King’s Coronation ceremony have been revealed, with King Charles’s nine-year-old grandson Prince George set for a bigger role than had been anticipated – in a break with royal precedent. 

The Times reports that Charles and Queen Camilla are both keen that George, as a future king, be given a prominent role, while not exposing him to excessive scrutiny at his young age. 

Royal historian Hugo Vickers tells the Times:

“Bringing George in also sends all the right symbolism for the future and gives him something he will always remember. It is certainly different — this coronation is getting more interesting by the minute.”

In addition, Queen Camila’s grandchildren – the King’s step-grandchildren – will also be given prominent official roles in the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, to take place on May 6. 

This “blended family” will be one sign of an event which, according to a Palace statement, will “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”

The Queen has five grandchildren, all teenagers, who have not spent much time in the limelight up until now. That is all set to change in three months time. The Times reports Camilla has asked that her grandchildren hold the canopy above her as she is anointed with holy oil, one of the most striking parts of the ceremony.

Charles watched his own mother be crowned in 1953 from a balcony with the rest of the congregation, but he was just four years old at the time. 

There is still no word on whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will travel from their Californian home to attend the ceremony, following their Netflix documentary series and Harry’s memoir, in which he expressed his displeasure with many aspects of royal life.