Obscure European royals, internet famous granddaughter among Coronation guests
The Olympics of formal diplomacy took place inside Westminster Abbey as dignitaries from across the world gathered.
The Olympics of formal diplomacy took place inside Westminster Abbey as dignitaries from all sovereign realms and other territories around the world gathered for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Australia was well-represented in the VIP circle, with Anthony Albanese spending the hours before the ceremony mingling with Catherine, Princess of Wales.
The Prime Minister was one of many guests at Buckingham Palace for the Realm Governors-General and Prime Ministers reception on Friday in London.
The pair spoke at length and the Princess was overheard talking to Mr Albanese about how she was feeling ahead of the coronation.
“There’s a lot of mixed feelings. Sort of nervousness and excitement,” the wife and mother of future kings told him.
Much like royal weddings and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the coronation brought together large congregations of global heads of state and royal families.
Australian-born Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark and her husband, Frederik, held court at the official functions leading up to the ceremony, and were sat in the front row. Mary wore a bespoke purple Søren Le Schmidt coat dress and lace headband and in a nod to her own destiny, an 18th century turquoise brooch and earrings set gifted to her from her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe, for her 50th birthday.
Other royals present included Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.
Prince Harry travelled from his California base to London for his father’s coronation but wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, remained in the US. Harry was seated in the third row along with Prince Andrew.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins were also in attendance.
President Joe Biden was absent at the ceremony despite being invited but first lady Jill Biden was dispatched to represent the US, with a special delegation and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden, 22-year-old daughter of the president‘s son, Hunter.
Dr Biden was dressed in cornflower Ralph Lauren pencil skirt and suit while Finnegan wore a pastel yellow gown by New York designer Markarian.
Heavy security, flanked the pair, with one guard even jumping out of the boot of the SUV, as they arrived at the abbey. Finnegan was not a part of the official delegation, being her grandmother’s plus one. She regularly appears with her grandparents, which has sparked online fame. While she is private on social media, there are thousands of searches and accounts dedicated to her on TikTok.
“As we’ve noted before with other family travel, historically, family members of presidents have frequently joined them during travel. Current practices are consistent with those used by prior administrations,” a White House spokesman said.
On Friday, Dr Biden met with Catherine and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska.
She also had an audience at 10 Downing Street with the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Akshata Murty.
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