Coronation March Composer Patrick Doyle Gives a Sneak Peek of What the Epic Song Will Sound Like

The prolific songwriter exclusively takes PEOPLE inside the three requests from Buckingham Palace for the history-making march

Patrick Doyle is bringing magic to the music of King Charles and Queen Camilla's coronation.

The Oscar-nominated film composer behind scores for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Cinderella, Thor and more was invited to write the coronation march for the crowning ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Saturday. Speaking to PEOPLE about the honor and what the song sounds like, Doyle jokes that the prestigious commission from Buckingham Palace was "the last thing in the world I ever expected" — though it's not his first royal assignment.

In 1988, then-Prince Charles was charmed by Doyle's piano performance for Kenneth Branagh's stage production of Twelfth Night, and they met after. The composer says Charles, 74, began following his work and memorably wrote him a "lovely letter" after being "very moved" by his core piece "Non Nobis Domine" in Henry V, his first major movie.

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Soon after, "He wrote to me again to ask me to write this piece for the Queen Mother's 90th [birthday]. So that gave me a sense of what his taste in music was and what a sensitive person he was and very human that he felt so emotional after seeing the picture and hearing this music," Doyle says. "So these are all the memories I bring to the process."

A lifelong music enthusiast and champion of the arts, Charles was so hands-on with the composition for his beloved grandmother's milestone birthday in 1990 that he met with Doyle twice, including an exclusive invite to his private home Highgrove for tea — which took a surprising turn!

"My wife drove with me to Highgrove because it was quite a distance away from London and before [satellite] navigation. Halfway through my meeting with Prince Charles, we're having a cup of tea, he said, 'How's Mrs. Doyle?' I said, 'She's great. She's actually in the car,' " the composer recalls. "He said, 'She's in the car? What's she doing in the car?' I said, 'Well, she drove me up.' He said, 'Please invite her in here.' So I said [to my wife], 'He's asked if you want to come in.' " She goes, 'No, I'm not dressed for this!' "

Doyle's wife Lesley decided to go inside, and the couple shared a rare respite with the future King at his cherished country home in Gloucestershire, England.

"It just showed you how human he was and how generous and polite," the composer tells PEOPLE of Charles' warmth. "We had a lovely chat about not only the piece but about life itself. And it was great."

Though the prolific songwriter has not directly connected with King Charles on the coronation march, one of the numerous themes that will ring out during the church service on May 6, he tells PEOPLE that the feedback was "very positive" after a "thrilling" dress rehearsal.

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The four-minute "King Charles III Coronation March" will be performed by the Coronation Orchestra during the Commonwealth Procession before the crowning ceremony begins at 11 a.m., and Doyle describes the epic melody as an overture march that tells a story.

Featuring four identifiable sections, Doyle says the march has a "triumphant opening, full of pageantry and is ceremonial. The second section sort of moves along a faster pace at the march of time and has a very strong Celtic influence, which being a Scott was a sort of natural thing that would come through in my DNA. And he loves Scotland."

The third segment is "full of joy and fun and orchestral fireworks," as the final fourth section is "romantic and reflective and builds to a triumphant climb," he says.

In writing the jubilant piece, Doyle joins a great lineage of coronation march composers including Handel, Purcell, Elgar and Walton — and the gravity of a place on that podium is not lost on him.

"To be part of this incredible cannon of incredible composers, just for the piece to have an afterlife and survive, that's the greatest wish that a composer ever wishes for. Music [that] survives the test of time and is enjoyed by people all over the world," Doyle tells PEOPLE.

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The composer says that he did not directly reference previous coronation anthems while writing the "King Charles III Coronation March," and innovatively used the tune to reflect Charles' character. The songwriter adds that the palace had three specific requests for the coronation commission.

"They passed on the very clear brief that it had to be uplifting and triumphant and memorable. I should include the organ in the organ loft, and could I bear in mind that the piece be played in the future for arrangements for brass bands and wind bands all over the world?" Doyle tells PEOPLE of the royal rules.

On Saturday, the "King Charles III Coronation March" composer will take his place in the pews as one of 2,200 select guests invited to the coronation at Westminster Abbey. There, he looks forward to hearing his hymn being written into history as part of the day.

"It's all in the story. It's all in the script," Doyle says of the art of storytelling through song. "And this is also a great story. It's a story of a historic family that goes back hundreds of years. So to be part of that journey is unbelievable."

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