Among the 2,300 people invited to Saturday’s coronation of Britain’s King Charles III in London are a mix of fresh faces, old lineages, world leaders, pop icons and a dash of controversy.
Among those to receive the invitation – a card hand-drawn by a heraldry artist, reproduced and printed on recycled paper with gold foil detailing – include British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Jill Biden, European aristocrats, Nobel Prize winners and actress Joanna. Lumley and famous musicians like Lionel Richie and Nick CaveBut also a magician, hairdresser and Syrian refugee.
It’s a clique that speaks to Charles’ efforts to embrace a modern, multicultural Britain, but also to the monarchy’s very identity as a traditional, anachronistic dynasty in many ways.
Royals from all over the world
The size of the personal attendance at Charles’ coronation would be about a quarter of the size of the attendance at the coronation of his mother, Elizabeth II. But unlike previous ceremonies, when it was uncommon for foreign royalty to attend, many around the world have confirmed their plans to be present this weekend.
Prince Albert of Monaco said Interview with People magazine He and his wife, Charlene, are attending. He also said that he expects the concert to be “very impressive”. Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and his wife, Princess Mary. Certain As did members of the royal families of Belgium, Norway and Sweden.
Cast from the glamorous but deposed royal family, now based in New York’s Upper East Side, will also be there. King Felipe VI of Spain, who ascended the throne in 2014 after his father’s abdication, will attend, according to Spanish media.
Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, great-grandson of the last king of Italy — himself the winner of Italy’s “Dancing with the Stars” title — Adnkronos, the Italian news agency Last year he would attend, but it was not immediately possible to confirm it this week.
Japan’s Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Keiko will attend on behalf of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. According to Japanese media. News reports said Maori royals from New Zealand are on the list, as are kings and queens from Thailand, Bhutan and Tonga. The Sultan of Brunei, an absolute monarch who enforces a strict interpretation of Islam, will be among the guests.
legislators and world leaders
Several members of the British government will attend, as well as about 100 heads of state from around the world, according to Buckingham Palace. But while relations with the UK’s two sister countries, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have soured, the calls have also caused some backlash.
Hamza Yusuf, the newly appointed First Minister of Scotland, who favors the independence of the Scots and who has announced his desire to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state, raised criticism when he confirmed his intention to attend. It was also condemned for accompanying the Stone of Destiny, a 330-pound slab of red sandstone used for centuries at the coronations of Scottish kings, as it was carried from Edinburgh Castle to be carried to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony on the Sabbath.
In Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, who is the vice-chairman of Sinn Féin, the largest party in the region that wants to leave the UK and unite with the Republic of Ireland, said: on Twitter She accepted an invitation in recognition that “there are many people on our island for whom a coronation is a momentous occasion”. Although the move reflects the improvement of relations between Buckingham Palace and the Irish nationalist movement in the region, some commentators pointing to to recent opinion polls It shows that zero percent of her party members support the monarchy.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau will reportedly be there News media reports.
China will be represented on the occasion by Han Zheng, the Chinese vice president, who was condemned in Britain for his prominent role in the 2019 crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, the former British colony. Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, said: ‘It is outrageous to give this man his turn’ he told the Telegraph.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has also confirmed that he plans to attend.
British Royals
Prince William, heir to the throne, will be there with his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their children, plus marquesses, dukes, barons, lords, and earls.
Charles’s brother Andrew, who was forced last year to step back from his royal duties over a multimillion-dollar legal settlement with a woman who accused him of raping her as a teenager and having an affair with Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and sexual predator. Also, according to British media reports.
But Andrew is not expected to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.
members of the public
The palace said representatives of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian faiths will be part of the procession in Westminster Abbey.
Many people who have taken part in programs sponsored by the Prince’s Trust, a charity Charles founded in 1976, will also attend, and 400 young people representing charitable organizations will be able to watch the service and processions from St Margaret’s Chapel inside Westminster Abbey, the palace said.
Others on the guest list include the presenter of a BBC show on restoration and recycling, the owner of a sustainable fashion line, a young man working for a solar energy startup in Sierra Leone, and a British hairdresser from Ghana.
Hairstylist Charlotte Mensah spoke at last week’s Prince Trust Gala in New York. “Your Majesty cannot be with us tonight,” she said during the event. “I think he’ll get something next week.”
Who will not go
Although Prince Harry will attend, despite the family rift that has occurred in a very public way in recent years, his wife Meghan and their children will remain at home in California.
President Biden, who last month visited both Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, will not be there. Instead, he is sending the first lady, Jill Biden, to be present “on behalf of the United States.”
Pope Francis will not attend. The Vatican said Thursday that its foreign minister, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will represent the pope at the coronation ceremony.
Buckingham Palace did not invite leaders representing several countries, according to Reuters, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia and Venezuela.
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