King Charles coronation: Julie Bishop attending crowning ceremony

Australia’s most glamorous former foreign minister has scored an invite to the historic occasion. See why.

Julie Bishop will be attending the coronation of King Charles this weekend.

The former foreign minister and current Prince’s Trust Australia chair will be joined by Tayla Green-Aldridge, 18, a Wiradjuri and Yuin woman and graduate of the Prince’s Trust Australia ‘Get Into Maritime’ program.

“I am honoured to be invited to the Coronation and delighted that the Prince’s Trust Australia has received such recognition,” Ms Bishop told The Women’s Weekly magazine.

“It is also fitting that Tayla, an impressive young indigenous woman who has benefited from a Prince’s Trust Australia program, will be included among the guests at Westminster Abbey.”

Julie Bishop will be attending the crowning of King Charles. Picture: Instagram

Prince’s Trust Australia is a national charity founded by the then Prince Charles that helps young people get into work, inspires veterans and their families to start their own business; and champions resilient sustainable communities.

‘Get into Maritime’, held on the lighthouse keeper ship, the MV Cape Don at Waverton, Sydney, allows First Nations youth to study for a career in the maritime industry.

AUSSIES TO STOP TRAFFIC IN LONDON’S HEART

The heart of London will be closed off to traffic for several hours on Tuesday to allow the contingent from Australia’s Federation Guard to rehearse the King’s procession march as frantic preparations for the coronation ramp up.

As royal superfans set up a coronation tarpaulin camp on The Mall in the run-up to Saturday’s historic ceremony — and tailors fuss over the robes amid King Charles’ concerns he will trip before a global audience — Aussie soldiers, sailors and aviators will put their best foot forward for a dress rehearsal in the early hours, local time.

Members of the Household Division take part in the rehearsal of the tri-service military accompaniment to the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Aldershot Barracks on April 28, 2023 in Aldershot, England. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The 39-strong contingent, which has performed six-hour drills daily to perfect their march along the two-kilometre route, will lead the newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla with 6000 armed forces from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace gardens where they will herald the returning royals with a three-cheer salute.

“It’s an historic moment with a lot of eyes on the contingent but also an exciting time, a lot of training has gone into this,” said head of the Australian Defence Staff Brigadier Grant Mason.

“Given the weight of history that is on this event for us, there is unbridled excitement about what this week will hold.”

As coronation fever gets underway, it can be revealed King Charles has commissioned an ornate, three-sided screen to guarantee extra privacy for his moment of solemnity when he is anointed alongside Queen Camilla.

The project, months in the making and crafted by a team of more than 150 people, displays a hand sewn 56-leaf painting representing the Commonwealth nations.

The front of the screen bears the King’s cypher, a symbol of the sovereign as a servant of the ‘family of nations’.

Seamstresses have been frantically adjusting the coronation robes of the King, who is said to be deeply worried over the hem of his weighty gown.

Master craftsmen have begun building a ramp up to the spot where the King and Queen will be crowned at the centre of Westminster Abbey — also known as the Chairs of State — to stop His Majesty struggling on the way up.

“When there are very large robes and trains involved, avoiding tripping up might be one of the hazards we have to watch,” said the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Paul Butler, before a dress rehearsal at Buckingham Palace.

“Not treading on robes is the big thing to aim for.”

Union flags fly above Bond Street in central London, on April 29, 2023 ahead of the coronation ceremony of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realm nations. Picture: Susannah Ireland / AFP

Britons have finally caught the coronation bug and have logged a staggering 3,299 public events and 497 street parties on the British Government’s official map.

They have been busy hanging out the red, white and blue bunting while stores have been stacked with memorabilia and the monarch’s image now beams out from many shop windows and street stalls.

Over the weekend the historic Stone of Destiny left Edinburgh Castle for London under tight security, enabling tradition to continue. Monarchs have been crowned upon the ancient coronation stone for centuries.

On the day of the coronation, a parade of corgis will join the Grosvenor Square residential party in Chelsea to honour the King and his Queen.

Originally published as King Charles coronation: Julie Bishop attending crowning ceremony