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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Danielle Kate Wroe

Prince Charles made history at Queen’s Coronation - and received a special invite

When the former Princess Elizabeth donned her fancy robes and priceless crown for her coronation in 1953, she knew she was entering the history books.

But it was her son, Prince Charles, who actually made history last day when he became the first child to witness his mother’s coronation as Sovereign.

His sister, Princess Anne, was not allowed to attend as at two-years-old she was considered too young.

Queen Elizabeth II is set to celebrate 70 years on the throne with her Platinum Jubilee next weekend, and excitement is growing.

The royal family announced that back in 1953, Charles received a special hand-painted child-friendly invitation to the ceremony.

Charles' hand-painted invitation included British guards in their traditional bearskin hats playing instruments, as well as a cartoon lion and unicorn, symbols on Queen Elizabeth's royal coat of arms.

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"By Command of The Queen the Earl Marshal is directed to invite His Royal Highness Prince Charles to the Coronation," the invitation reads along with the date.

The Queen's coronation was the first ceremony to be televised and was watched by over 20million people at a time when there were only 2.7million televisions.

The monarch shared some behind-the-scenes insights from her coronation in a BBC documentary series The Coronation in 2018.

Revealing her wicked sense of humour, the monarch spoke about the "horrible" Gold State Coach in which she rode around London and the potential perils of wearing her heavy crown.

During an episode of the Royal Rota podcast, ITV News royal editor Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson discussed Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

The Queen on Coronation day 1953 with Prince Charles (far right) (Getty)

Ms Robinson stated a very young Prince Charles looked bored throughout the three-hour long service.

She said: "There are some really nice details about the Queen’s coronation.

"Prince Charles was the first child to witness his mother’s coronation.

"He was only young at the time and there are pictures of him looking slightly bored."

Prince Charles a four year old looking bored at June 1953 coronation of his mother the Queen (Mirrorpix)

Mr Ship added: "He had basically had enough of the three-hour service."

Ms Robinson replied: "Yes three hours, it was a very long service.

"It was also the first coronation to be televised and I think around 27 million people tuned in to see that moment."

Prince Charles was famously photographed looking quite bored by the festivities, resting his head on his clenched hand with an apathetic expression on his face while standing between his grandmother the Queen Mother and aunt Princess Margaret.

However, Prince Charles visibly perked up when he joined his mother on the Buckingham Palace balcony to wave to onlookers following the ceremony and a Royal Air Force flypast over the Mall, despite the rain clouds - a real attention lover.

Princess Anne was also in attendance on the balcony, despite not attending the ceremony.

Share your favourite memories from the Queen's reign by emailing podsavethequeen@trinitymirror.com.

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