Who will attend King Charles’ coronation dinner on Friday, May 5?
THE night before King Charles III is crowned at Westminster Abbey, he will host a reception at Buckingham Palace on May 5.
The event is for the many foreign royals and British aristocrats who missed out on invitations for the main event.
Who will attend King Charles’ coronation dinner?
As guest numbers for the King’s coronation are limited, many foreign royals and British aristocrats have missed out on invitations to the ceremony.
Therefore, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are hosting a reception at Buckingham Palace the night before.
This will give them the chance to greet some of those that have been excluded from the main event.
More than 1,000 guests are expected to attend the special event, along with most senior members of the Royal Family.
However, it won’t be a traditional sit-down dinner, but more of a reception.
A source told the Daily Mail: “It will feel rather like the annual Diplomatic reception held every December at Buckingham Palace as opposed to a state banquet, and will be a nice mix of majesty, family and friends.”
It is understood that many spouses and children of guests will be in attendance who did not get an invite to the ceremony.
They include King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife, Queen Maxima, who will attend the Coronation.
They will be joined at the Palace by the former queen, HRH Princess Beatrix, and her grand-daughter the future queen, Catharina-Amalia, the Princess of Orange.
“It will basically be most of the VIP coronation guests plus all those Their Majesties wanted to invite to the ceremony but couldn’t due to the scaled back numbers at the Abbey,” another source said.
Who is not invited to the coronation?
There will be roughly 2,000 guests at King Charles‘ coronation on May 6.
This is only about a quarter of the guests in attendance at his mother Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953.
Perhaps most notable of those reportedly not invited is Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
While she will not attend the ceremony, she is expected to be included in a private royal family celebration afterwards.
Another name that many were shocked to see not on the guest list is that of Lady Pamela Hicks, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s bridesmaid, friend and lady-in-waiting.
Her daughter, India Hicks, revealed that the Palace rang her mother to give her the news.
“The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced list,” Ms Hicks said.