London, UK
Reuters
Britain’s King Charles III, who has spent a lifetime campaigning for sustainability and against a throwaway economy, will wear clothing previously worn by his predecessors, including his mother and grandfather, for his coronation next week.
Charles, 74, will be crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey on 6th May, during a grand ceremony at which he will wear or be handed regalia charged with religious and historical symbolism.
A view of the Coronation Gauntlet glove and Sword Belt, which forms part of the Coronation Vestments and will be worn by Britain’s King Charles III during his coronation at Westminster Abbey, displayed in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, on 26th April, 2023. PICTURE: Victoria Jones/Pool via Reuters.
Many of those items, such as the crowns and sceptres, date back centuries, but Charles will also be re-using some garments that have appeared at coronations since 1821 “in the interests of sustainability and efficiency”, Buckingham Palace said on Monday.
Among the vestments to reappear will be the coronation glove made for his grandfather, George VI.
“We’ve got this wonderful, sustainable, eco-friendly king who’s reusing something rather than having a new glove,” said Deborah Moore, the chief executive of Dents which made the glove with gold embroidery for George VI’s 1937 coronation.
“It’s also a little bit of heritage, a bit of looking back to the past for our very modern king,” said Moore, whose firm also made the glove for the 1953 coronation of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
During the ceremony, the glove, made of white leather embroidered with gilt metal thread, is placed onto the right hand of the monarch during the ceremony as a reminder that the sovereign should exercise gentleness in raising taxes.
Charles will also wear his grandfather’s ‘Colobium Sindonis’ – a white linen shift-like tunic, and the sword belt he wore, again eschewing the tradition of having a new one made.
Caroline de Guitaut, deputy surveyor of the King’s Works of Art for the Royal Collection Trust, adjusts the Imperial Mantle, which forms part of the Coronation Vestments and will be worn by Britain’s King Charles during his coronation at Westminster Abbey, in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, on 26th April, 2023. PICTURE: Victoria Jones/Pool via Reuters
Other regalia Charles will don during the service, whose roots date back 1,000 years to his Norman predecessors, includes the ‘supertunica’, a full-length, sleeved coat of gold silk, which was made for the coronation of King George V, Charles’ great-grandfather, and worn by subsequent monarchs including Elizabeth.
Over this he will wear the Imperial Mantle, made of cloth of gold and originally produced for the coronation of George IV in 1821.
“They are fairly heavy to wear,” said Caroline de Guitaut, Deputy Surveyor of the King’s Works of Arts.
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Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that more than 2,200 people will attend the coronation, including international representatives from 203 countries as well as community and charity workers.
The congregation will also comprise Nobel Prize winners, religious representatives, and heads of state and foreign ministers, the palace said in a statement.
In addition to those guests, 400 young people representing charitable organisations will be able to watch the coronation service and processions from inside St Margaret’s Church, next to the Abbey, the statement said.
The palace has been steadily releasing details of Charles’ coronation, which is set to be smaller in scale than that of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 but still replete with pomp and pageantry, reflecting traditions dating back 1,000 years.
More than 8,200 guests attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation ceremony, which also took place at Westminster Abbey, according to the royal family’s website. Elizabeth died last September aged 96.
– With MUVIJA M
