Prince George praised for ‘perfectly dutiful’ role at Coronation
Prince George and Princess Charlotte take seats at Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle
Hello!’s Emmy Griffiths, Andrea Caamano and Royal Editor Emily Nash discussed the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the latest episode of the publication’s A Right Royal Podcast.
They noted the significance of nine-year-old Prince George’s role and commended him on his “dutiful” performance.
Ms Nash said George played “such a fantastic role carrying his grandfather’s robes, just looking so dutiful and yet possibly knowing in the back of his mind somewhere that this is him down the line. That’s just so much to get your head around.”
Ms Caamano added: “He did not look bored. He just looked like he was getting on with the job. He was doing it perfectly. And I have kids, that’s like a miracle.”
Noting the intense “rehearsing we saw in the week running up to — and long before — [the Coronation],” Ms Nash said: “No one put a foot wrong. I think for a piece of theatre on that scale, that was being watched all over the world, if something had gone wrong, it really would have jarred and he just carried it off to perfection.”
George was among eight boys chosen to be Pages of Honour for the King and Queen Camilla. They were tasked with carrying both Charles and Camilla’s robes.
Joining George in serving the King, were Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, Ralph Tollemache, 12, and Nicholas Barclay, 13 — all the children and grandchildren of Charles’s friends.
Camilla’s Pages were her grandsons Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, Louis and Gus Lopes, 13, as well as her great nephew Arthur Elliot, 11.
George was the youngest to carry out the duty, which is traditionally given to the teenage sons of noblemen and women. His role also made him the youngest heir to take part in the coronation of a monarch.
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The King’s Pages wore knee-length scarlet coats with gold trimming over white satin waistcoats and lace jabots, which are decorative ruffles falling from the collar.
They also donned white breeches, white stockings and black shoes with buckles, while carrying a small ceremonial sword — historically worn to protect the monarch.
The young prince arrived separately from his parents Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, and his younger siblings Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.
Kate, Charlotte and Louis had no formal roles in the Coronation ceremony but sat in the front row watching history unfold.
William, however, did play a part. He paid homage to his father by pledging allegiance to him — making him the only person to do so.
The Prince and Princess of Wales undoubtedly watched with pride as George carried out the formal duty — but the couple had initial concerns.
According to previous reports, William and Kate had several conversations about whether or not they wanted their eldest son to take on such an important role.
George was said to be involved in some of these conversations, deciding whether he wanted to and felt ready to step into the spotlight, and the Prince readily agreed.
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“There’s a difficult balance to be struck between preparing younger royals for their lifetime and service and duty and maintaining their privacy so that they can grow up as peacefully as possible,” said royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti ahead of the big day.
“When you are born to be a future king, your life is bound to be different from most people’s but that’s one reason why William and Catherine have been so keen to give their children at least a hint of normality in their childhood.”
He continued: “To be a good monarch, you might do well to have a sense of what life is like for everyone else, at least growing up. The Coronation is a great opportunity for Prince George to start more serious ceremonial duties, although he is still very young and we can only hope he will not be too heavily scrutinised for his role.
“It will be touching and deeply symbolic to see King Charles, along with his son and grandson involved in the ceremony. That sense of continuity is one of the hallmarks of the monarchy; seeing those three generations not only present but taking part will be striking.”
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