Prince and Princess of Wales wave at crowds in first carriage procession with George, Charlotte and
July 2024 · 6 minute read
Kate Middleton and Prince William smiled and waved at the adoring crowds in first carriage procession with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at the coronation
The Prince and Princess of Wales have marked a new milestone with their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Following the historic coronation, where King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned, the young royal family looked delighted as they took part in their first family carriage procession, with Princess Charlotte waving to the crowds.
Their carriage followed the iconic 261-year-old Gold State Coach as King Charles and Queen Camilla travelled from Westminster Abbey down to Buckingham Palace following their service.
Their Majesties were followed by three other carriages carrying working members of the royal family.
The Princess Royal rode on horseback behind Charles and Camilla as Gold Stick in Waiting and Colonel of the Blues and Royals, to the rear of the Gold State Coach.
In the first carriage behind the Gold State Coach were Prince William and Princess Kate with nine-year-old George, Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Louis. It is not the youngsters' first experience of a royal carriage procession, with the trio waving to crowds from a landau during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year, though it's their first time with their father there.
WATCH: Prince Louis travel down the Mall
William has typically ridden horseback at events such as Trooping the Colour, but the Waleses made their carriage debut as a family of five at the coronation.
The next carriage contained the King’s youngest brother the Duke of Edinburgh with his wife the Duchess of Edinburgh and their children Lady Louise Windsor and the Earl of Wessex. The late Queen’s cousin the Duke of Gloucester and his wife the Duchess of Gloucester, and Anne’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence travelled in the third carriage.
Following by car were the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra, also cousins of Elizabeth II, completing the procession of royals. The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, the man in charge of organising the historic occasion, described the return procession as a "glorious display of pageantry".
Seven thousand troops were on ceremonial duties, with 4,000 taking part in the procession itself escorting the King and Queen. There was no place in the procession for the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York, who play no formal part in the coronation ceremony, nor for Princesses Beatrice or Eugenie.
Is the coronation carriage real gold?
The Gold State Carriage, which can only carry a Sovereign and Consort, took Charles and Camilla from the Abbey to the Palace.
Rather than solid gold, it is gilded wood, and was built in 1762 and is only ever used to convey a monarch and their consort. Sally Goodsir, Curator of Decorative Arts at The Royal Collection Trust, said of the carriage: "It is huge. It is four metres tall and seven metres long and weighs four tonnes. Because of that it can only move at a walking pace which really adds to the majesty and stateliness of this great royal procession.
"There are eight horses required to pull this carriage, which adds more of course to its length. When it passes you in the street you will just have this glimpse of gold with the Sovereign travelling inside."
WATCH: HELLO! reacts to the carriage driving past
What did Princess Kate wear to the coronation ceremony?
The Princess of Wales looked resplendent in a deep blue Royal Victorian Order mantle, edged in scarlet over an Alexander McQueen embroidered ivory silk crepe dress.
In place of a tiara, Princess Kate wore a three-dimensional leaf embroidery headpiece by Jess Collett x Alexander McQueen, with her earrings a touching tribute to Prince William's late mother, with the pearl and diamond pieces belonging to Diana, Princess of Wales. She also wore Queen Elizabeth II's George VI Festoon Necklace, which George VI commissioned for his daughter Princess Elizabeth in 1950.
Princess Kate paid homage to the United Kingdom, with embroidery featuring rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock motifs; the emblems signifying the four nations also appearing on Charlotte’s dress in ivory satin stitch embroidery.
Princess Charlotte's coronation headpiece
Princess Charlotte was dressed in a mini-me version of her mother's ensemble, with a similar headpiece by the same milliner. Eight-year-old Charlotte also wore an Alexander McQueen dress – with a cape – in ivory silk crepe.
Prince Louis, five, looked just as charming, decked out in a Hainsworth Garter Blue Doeskin Tunic with specially designed lacework embellishment to the collar, cuffs and fronts, made by bespoke Savile Row tailors Dege and Skinner.
At the coronation ceremony, King Charles and Queen Consort Camillawere anointed and crowned in front of 2,000 guests at the country’s first coronation to be staged in 70 years.
The service began with the procession of faith leaders and representatives of faith communities, ecumenical leaders, realms and the choir, and then the procession of the King and the Queen Consort. Charles was seen wearing George VI's crimson Robe of State while Camilla will wear the late Queen Elizabeth II's crimson Robe of State.
During the ceremony, Prince William placed his hands between those of his father to say: "I, William, Prince of Wales, pledge my loyalty to you and faith and truth I will bear unto you, as your liege man of life and limb. So help me God."
The heir to the throne is the only member of the royal family who paid "The Homage of Royal Blood," also described as the "words of fealty", after the Archbishop paid his own homage on behalf of the Church of England.
Prince William is following in the footsteps of his grandfather the late Duke of Edinburgh, who famously swore to be Queen Elizabeth II's "liege man of life and limb" during her ceremony in 1953.
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