Prince Archie, 4, birthday boy, celebrated his big day without royal congratulations on Saturday. Neither his grandfather Charles III. and step-grandmother Camilla, Uncle William and Aunt Kate publicly congratulated Harry and Meghan’s son on his fourth birthday, the social media accounts of Buckingham and Kensington Palace focused their posts on the second celebration that took place on that day: the Coronation in London.
Prince Harry, 38, birthday boy father, prefers birthday cake to a royal coronation dinner. King Charles’ younger son flew back to his family in the United States immediately after the ceremony, Britain’s PA news agency reported, citing airline officials. Harry landed in Los Angeles on Saturday evening (local time). At the coronation mass at Westminster Abbey, the fifth heir to the British throne had sat in the third row, between Jack Brooksbank, the husband of his pregnant cousin Eugenie, and Princess Alexandra, an 86-year-old second cousin of Elizabeth II – and behind his aunt Princess Anne blocking his view with her red hat feather. Harry’s presence was not intended for the subsequent appearance of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but he was invited to the coronation dinner, but instead took the return flight.
Charlotte, Louis and George (far right) with their parents William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
(Photo: Frank Augstein/AP)
Prince Louis, 5, royal fax maker, stole the show from his grandfather. During the coronation ceremony, the youngest son of the heir to the throne, William and Kate, was caught yawning several times, on the carriage ride to Buckingham Palace he made faces, and when he appeared on the balcony he alternately played the piano and drums with his hands on the balcony railing. His big brother Prince George, 9, who wore Charles’ train at the coronation as “Honorary Page”, was also caught by the cameras with his tongue out. Princess Charlotte, 8, on the other hand, had her facial expressions largely under control. The daughter of the heir to the throne matched her mother, both wearing ivory dresses by designer Alexander McQueen and silver laurel wreaths in their hair. Kate donned a royal blue cape and paired it with freshwater pearl earrings that once belonged to Princess Diana.
Jill Biden was accompanied by granddaughter Finnegan.
(Photo: Andrew Milligan/Getty Images)
Jill Biden, 71, First Lady of the USA, found the moment of the coronation “surreal”. “You can’t imagine the moment when the crown is placed on the king’s head and then on the queen’s head,” she told the AP news agency. Biden was accompanied by her granddaughter Finnegan, 23. According to the White House, Jill Biden was the first First Lady to ever attend a British coronation. In the USA it is traditional for the President to decline the invitation and pass it on. Never in history has a US President attended the coronation mass.
Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen with his wife Doris Schmidauer.
(Photo: Peter Lechner/dpa)
Alexander Van der Bellen79, Austrian Federal President, describes himself as “an even more convinced Republican” after attending the coronation. The Kronen newspaper he said, he viewed the ceremony with a “mixture of admiration and amazement”. His conclusion: “It was okay.”
Melinda Simmons, 57, British Ambassador to Ukraine, made an amazing observation while watching TV. “I saw Ukraine”, she wrote on Twitter and meant the yellow and blue carpet in Westminster Abbey, which had similarities with the Ukrainian flag. She “lost her composure for a minute”. Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, traveled from Ukraine to the coronation.
Katy Perry, 38, US singer, has lost track. The musician, who is one of the stars of the coronation concert on Sunday evening, was before the service caught by cameras, as she looked around searchingly – apparently because she couldn’t find her place. With 2300 guests from show business, the European nobility and from politics and business, that can definitely happen.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, 75, British musical composer, listening to himself. The coronation anthem “Make A Joyful Noise”, which he wrote, was first performed in the service in his presence. The composition was an “antidote” after his son died of cancer a few weeks ago, Lloyd Webber told Channel 4 TV. The PA news agency said the score had been distributed to 6,000 churches for future hearings across the country.
Paddington meets the Queen, to be seen on the big screen at Buckingham Palace on the day of the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.
(Photo: Victoria Jones/dpa)
Paddingtona Peruvian bear who lives in London, had a short tip ready for the coronation day: “Remember to be nice and polite today,” they said on the @paddingtonbear Twitter account. Had for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last summer a video triggered enthusiasm in the kingdom, in which the children’s book and children’s film character is a guest at Elizabeth II’s house, misbehaves and finally gives the monarch a jam sandwich. With Charles III the bear has not yet made contact.