Oh oh!
May 6, 2023 was the big day for King Charles: he was officially inaugurated as king in Westminster Abbey. Although it was a festive day, something also happened that made the new King angry with Prince William and Princess Kate.
Got caught
King Charles was caught looking rather angry during the inauguration last year. The reason? His son and daughter-in-law, the Prince and Princess of Wales, arrived a few minutes late for his and Queen Camilla’s coronation. Although the historic event was carefully planned and executed, this small mistake did not go unnoticed.
In the new book, Charles III: The Inside Story – out next week, author Robert Hardman describes what really happened that day.
A minute and a half late
The King and Queen’s procession to Westminster Abbey was supposed to last 33 minutes, but actually lasted only 26 minutes. Why? William, Kate and their offspring were late. “Unbeknownst to them, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their two younger children were a minute and a half late,” Hardman wrote. De Waltses would be present eight minutes before the king and queen. Yet they eventually arrived after them.
Because King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the Gold State Coach six minutes ahead of schedule, the royal couple had to wait – the moment Charles was caught on camera looking annoyed. A lip reader guessed at what the king said to his wife. “We can never be on time… There is always something… This is boring,” he is said to have said, among other things.
Extra low stress
Obviously Charles was not happy with the action of his son William, but the Walses’ staff in particular had a hard time. “The Prince of Wales’s equerry, Commander Rob Dixon, will have faced a fair amount of criticism. It is unusual for the two main arrivals at such an important event to be so unpunctual,” Hardman wrote.
Yet the author also stands up for William and Kate. According to him, it could also have been a matter of nerves. “An unspoken factor may have been nervousness about street protests. More than 11,500 police officers from across the country have been called in, making this the largest ever police operation in London.”
Source: Hello! Magazine | Image: NL Image
