The Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla will be attended by around 2,000 specially invited guests. The grand ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, and marks the first time a monarch has been crowned in the UK in 70 years.
While his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was watched by more than 8,000 people, who crammed into the abbey on specially constructed grandstands, to take in the proceedings, Charles has opted for a much smaller guestlist.
Family and friends of the King and Queen, politicians, world leaders, celebrities and everyday heroes will be among the people in attendance. And, in a break from tradition, members of foreign royal families have also been invited to attend.
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The final guest list is yet to be confirmed but we already have an idea of who will be there, and who won’t. Here’s what we know ahead of the ceremony.
The royal family
Almost the entire UK royal family will attend the ceremony, but there will be some notable absences.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has confirmed that he will attend his father’s special day, but his wife Meghan has opted to stay home in California along with their children Lilibet and Archie, who celebrates his fourth birthday on the same day.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, will be there with their three children. Their eldest son, nine-year-old Prince George, will become the youngest future King to play an official role at the coronation as one of his grandfather’s four Pages of Honour.
Charles' siblings Princess Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York will also be there with their families.
Sarah, Duchess of York has confirmed that she will miss the service. Speaking on Good Morning Britain she admitted that she “can’t have it both ways” since she is no longer with her ex-husband Prince Andrew, Charles’ brother. She is expected to attend a private family celebration after the ceremony.
Family and friends
Camilla, who will be crowned Queen at the ceremony, will have her family around her, including son Tom Parker Bowles, 48, and daughter Laura Lopes, 45.
Camilla’s younger sister Annabel Elliot, 74, and her friend the Marchioness of Lansdowne, 68, will support her during the service as ladies in attendance.
Her three grandsons Gus and Louis Lopes, 13, Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, and her great-nephew, Arthur Elliot, 10, will also be there as her Pages of Honour.
Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, 83, who she is still close friends with will also be there.
Friends of the King will also be in attendance, as will three of his friend’s grandsons - Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, Nicholas Barclay, 13, and Ralph Tollemache, 12, who will be Pages of Honour alongside Prince George.
Foreign royals
Centuries-old tradition stated that a coronation should be a sacred ceremony between a monarch and their people in the presence of God - but Charles has broken with tradition to invite royalty from beyond the UK.
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco were the first foreign royals to confirm they will be going to the ceremony. Others who have confirmed their attendance include King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Dragon King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his wife Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck.
World leaders
Around 100 heads of state from around the world are expected to attend the coronation. US president Joe Biden has said he will not be attending the service, but Washington has confirmed that First Lady Jill Biden will be there to represent the US.
French president Emmanuel Macron announced last month that he will be there to show his “friendship, respect and esteem” for the UK, while Germany and Italy will send their ceremonial presidents Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sergio Mattarella, rather than heads of government Olaf Scholz and Giorgia Meloni.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif have both said they are going.
Chinese vice-president Han Zheng, who presided over a civil liberties crackdown in Hong Kong, is also on the King’s guest list. The move has been branded “outrageous” by Conservative MPs.
Leaders from Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela have not been invited to the event, according to the PA news agency.
British politicians
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and all his living predecessors are expected to attend the ceremony, alongside Cabinet ministers and leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer. First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf has also accepted an invite despite being a republican.
Mr Sunak will play a role in the ceremony, as will a number of peers, including former MI5 chief Baroness Elizabeth Manningham-Buller, who will carry St Edward’s Staff, and former children’s TV presenter, now author and peer, Baroness Floella Benjamin, tasked with carrying the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove. Lord President of the Council Penny Mordaunt will carry the Sword of State.
According to the Telegraph, there was uproar among MPs and peers earlier this year when it was announced that just 20 MPs and 20 peers would enter a ballot for a place at the ceremony. That number has reportedly since been expanded to around 80 - which is far fewer than the 800 MPs and 910 peers who were invited to the late Queen’s coronation.
Celebrities
TV stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will be among the famous faces making an appearance at the coronation. The presenting duo will join young people who have been supported by the Prince’s Trust charity, which they are ambassadors for.
There will also be an appearance from American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie, who was named chairman of the trust’s global ambassador group in 2019, and British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, who has helped guide the trust’s work in Africa.
The BBC reports that several people who were supported by the trust in their youth have also been invited - including Kelly Jones, lead singer of the Stereophonics, and television magician Dynamo.
Musician Nick Cave has also confirmed he is attending the King’s coronation, explaining he has an “inexplicable emotional attachment” to the British royal family. The Bad Seeds musician has been chosen as part of a group of 14 “outstanding Australians”, including Channel 4’s The Last Leg host Adam Hills, to represent the country at the coronation.
The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades also revealed on his Twitter and Instagram accounts that he had been invited. He is co-chairman of the Heritage Crafts Association, a charity which aims to safeguard craft skills, of which the King is president.
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, who previously played Tricia Armstrong in Coronation Street, has also tweeted a video of herself opening up the special envelope containing the invite.
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