Prince George will play an important role in the coronation of his grandfather, King Charles III. Buckingham Palace issued the invitation to Charles’ coronation on Tuesday, with a detailed description of George’s role in the service.
George is one of eight Pages of Honour chosen to attend Their Majesties The King and Queen Consort Camila’s coronation next month.
Their Majesties will be accompanied by four Pages of Honour throughout the coronation service. The Pages will be part of the procession through Westminster Abbey’s Nave. His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, Master Nicholas Barclay, and Master Ralph Tollemache will be the King’s Pages of Honour.
Meanwhile, Her Majesty’s grandsons, Master Gus, and Master Louis Lopes, Master Freddy Parker Bowles, and Her Majesty’s great-nephew, Master Arthur Elliot, will serve as the Queen Consort’s Pages of Honour.
A new photo of the soon-to-be crowned couple, taken in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace last month, was also released.
Two thousand guests, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, will be invited to the congregation in Westminster Abbey next month.
While Charles “very much” wants Prince Harry and his grandchildren to attend his upcoming coronation, a source told ET that the royal family believes Harry and Meghan Markle’s attendance will draw attention away from the historic event.
According to a source close to the royal family, there is concern that if Harry and Meghan attend the London ceremony, it will take the spotlight away from the king himself.
“The main concern is that if they attend, the chaos will overshadow the coronation,” the source said. “No one wants the press to divert attention away from King Charles by focusing on Harry and Meghan and past family squabbles.”
“The fear is that if they do come, more private matters will be made public,” the source added, “so efforts are being made to prevent that.”
According to a royal family source, Charles “very much wants Prince Harry and his grandchildren at his coronation.” The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited via email, according to a spokesperson for the couple.
“The duke has recently received email correspondence regarding the coronation from His Majesty’s office.” “At this time, we will not make an immediate decision on whether the duke and duchess will attend,” Harry and Meghan’s rep said.
However, there is no word on whether Harry and Meghan will make the trip across the pond. And tensions between Harry and the royal family may be rekindled after Harry claimed last week that the royal family withheld information from him in the aftermath of the 2005 phone hacking scandal. As part of his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), Harry submitted a witness statement in which he stated, “The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms.”
He also claimed that “the Institution was unquestionably withholding information from me about NGN’s [News Group Newspapers] phone hacking for a long time, and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation.”
