Camilla will be crowned alongside Prince Charles in a far shorter and cheaper coronation than the Queen’s, reports suggest.

The Westminster Abbey service is expected to be ‘radically streamlined’, in line with the Prince of Wales favouring a more modern monarchy.

The plan for him to be crowned with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, emerged after the Queen announced last week that it was her ‘sincere wish’ for Camilla to be known as Queen Consort when Charles becomes King.

Her comments sparked debate around the future direction of the monarchy and now The Mail on Sunday has revealed details about plans for her son’s coronation, which it says are being drawn up under the codename Operation Golden Orb.

A source claimed that the ceremony would be ‘shorter, sooner, smaller, less expensive and more representative of different community groups and faiths’.

The Queen’s coronation reportedly cost the Government the equivalent of around £46 million in today’s money, but Charles is said to instead back a ‘good value’ celebration.

The current monarch, now 95, came into contact with Charles two days before he tested positive for Covid-19 this week, but is not thought to be unwell herself.

The British coronation is the only remaining religious ceremony of its kind in Europe and will happen within a year of Charles becoming King – which he will immediately after the Queen’s death.

The ceremony is expected to be significantly different to his mother’s lavish coronation on June 2, 1953, when Britain was still an empire.

More than 8,000 dignitaries came to Westminster Abbey in a lengthy carriage procession, with 30,000 troops lining the streets, in the first televised ceremony.

At the time, Prince Philip, a male consort, was not entitled to be crowned, but instead knelt before the Queen pledged to be her ‘liege man of life and limb’.

It was 1937 when a Queen Consort was last crowned, when the Queen’s mother, also Elizabeth, sat alongside King George VI.

With Camilla at his side, the service for Charles is expected to have a maximum of 2,000 guests at what will remain an Anglican service.

Charles would like to use a new design on official insignia for things like police uniforms and postboxes – choosing the simpler Tudor Crown to replace the current St Edward’s design, according to The Mail on Sunday.

A source also told the paper: ‘Charles was considered progressive 50 years ago when he spoke about inter-faith dialogue and that will certainly be part of the ceremony.

‘He thinks of the UK as a community comprising different communities and you should expect all those communities represented.’

Another added: ‘It will be a slimmed-down Monarchy on display throughout. I wouldn’t be surprised to see just Charles and Camilla, Kate and William and their children on the Buckingham Palace balcony afterwards.’

The committee organising the event are said to be meeting a lot more frequently and planning ‘less fuss’ than at previous coronations.

They are also keen to avoid mishaps which were noted at other similar events, the Mail on Sunday reported – highlighting how Queen Victoria’s ring was forced on to the wrong finger and Edward VII’s crown was put on back-to-front.

Meanwhile, a new book by Prince Harry is expected to shake the Royals ‘to the core’ and reveal his true feelings about Camilla.

Metro.co.uk has contacted the Royal Family for comment.

A Clarence House spokesman told the Mail On Sunday: ‘The detailed planning for a Coronation begins at the point of accession. So there are no plans of this nature at this stage.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article