Even before King Charles III became sovereign, the royal was known for wanting to modernize the monarchy. In the few months he’s been in power, the monarch’s modern moves include releasing a coronation-inspired emoji, the recent royal real estate shuffle and wanting to keep the coronation ceremony to a tight one hour. And, according to Charles’ former butler Grant Harrold, the coronation will continue to show how modern he is.
“This event is going to be so completely different to Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation when it comes to dress codes,” Harrold said, per Page Six. “Aristocracy traditionally would wear the coronation robes.”
“If you look at the Queen’s coronation, you would see the dukes, duchesses, countesses all had these special robes that were created for the coronation,” he explained. “Historically, these robes were worn by the aristocracy, but now this will not be the case.”
So what can we expect from the upcoming May 6 occasion? According to Harrold, most members of the British royal family will be wearing “suits” and “dresses.”
“This is a massive change to royal protocol,” he stated. “The senior members of the royal family decide the royal etiquette and dress code — they are always changing etiquette as they’re the ones who decide all the changes which will then be accepted as another part of the royal protocol.”
As for the jewelry, Harrold predicted a not-so-grand moment either. “I don’t think you will see the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Wessex or the Duchess of Edinburgh wear any tiaras,” he said. “I really don’t think we’ll see that in the dress code because I think the focus will be more on day wear, showing how relaxed the dress code is for the event.”
He concluded, “[The coronation will have] a modern dress code instead of the traditions.” Indeed it looks like Charles’ coronation will be miles apart from his mother’s back in 1953. Love it or hate it, he sure is sticking to his “modern King” label.
Before you go, click here to see every single detail we know about King Charles III’s coronation so far.
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