Everything We Know About Queen Camilla’s Coronation
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Camilla, Queen Consort, is set to be coronated next to husband King Charles III next year in a ceremony that will take place eight months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Here is everything we know about the historical moment.
When will it happen?
King Charles and Camilla's coronation will take place on May 6, 2023—on grandson Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's fourth birthday.
In a statement shared with media outlets, including BAZAAR.com, a spokesperson confirms that the Saturday ceremony will be held at London's Westminster Abbey.
The last queen consort to be crowned in Westminster Abbey was Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother during the coronation of King George VI in 1937. At the time, she was bequeathed a purple velvet crown with ermine trim and 2,800 diamonds, per the Royal Collection Trust.
Will her title change?
Camilla was originally meant to inherit the title of princess upon Queen Elizabeth's death, but before her passing, the beloved monarch voiced her wish that Camilla be named queen consort when the time came.
Now that she's being coronated, sources tell BAZAAR.com Camilla will likely maintain her queen consort status, but be referred to as Queen Camilla or the queen.
What will Camilla wear?
Seeing as the royal family has an expansive jewelry, crown, and tiara vault, the queen consort has plenty of options to choose from when it comes to her coronation crown.
The most obvious one for her to use is Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's coronation crown (with its controversial Koh-i-Nûr diamond).
She could also wear Queen Adelaide's crown from 1831, or the crowns of Queen Alexandra or Queen Mary, though they are much heavier than the queen mother's.
There has been much debate over the source and ownership of the diamond in the centerpiece of the queen mother's famous crown—which she wore for her coronation alongside King George VI in 1937—but it can easily be removed and replaced with another gem. (Per the Historic Royal Palaces website, "The East India Company took the jewel from deposed Maharaja Duleep Singh in 1849, as a condition of the Treaty of Lahore. The treaty specified that the jewel be surrendered to Queen Victoria.")
"Of the available crowns, it is by far the lightest and easiest to wear because it has a platinum frame," royal jewelry expert Lauren Kiehna told People. "I do believe that the Koh-i-Nûr will and should be removed from the crown if it is used. There's nothing controversial about the crown itself, just the diamond."
Who will attend?
The ceremony will be attended by the British royal family, world leaders, and royalty from around the world.
How can I watch?
The coronation will likely be broadcast live around the world, though exact details on how and where to watch it have not yet been shared by Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation had about 8,000 guests and was famously broadcast to an estimated 20 million people—a first for Westminster Abbey.
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