King Charles coronation set to be climate friendly with leaders told they don't have to attend
he King is planning a “low carbon”
coronation next year and could tell Commonwealth leaders they do not need to attend, in order to cut the number of aircraft heading to London.
King Charles III speaks during his proclamation as King during the accession council - Getty Images Europe© Getty Images EuropeBuckingham Palace is expected to announce a date in May or June for the event, which will be on a noticeably smaller scale than
the late Queen’s coronation in 1953.
The plans are still at an early stage because nothing was discussed in detail before Queen Elizabeth’s death, and Palace officials have months to thrash out the guest list.
However, royal sources confirmed that deciding who is invited will be a “balancing act” between keeping the carbon footprint down and adhering to protocol.
The King has spent decades drawing attention to climate change and is expected to use a state visit to France next month - the first of his reign - to highlight a scheme to plant millions of trees in Africa.
Those close to him say he would not want to turn his coronation into an international event on the scale of
the late Queen’s funeral, which brought dozens of private jets to London.Invitees could be urged to travel on scheduled flightsOne source familiar with the King’s thinking said it was possible that Commonwealth leaders and members of foreign royal families could be invited but told that their attendance would be left to their own discretion. Alternatively, they could be urged to travel on scheduled flights.
More than 60 members of foreign royal families attended the late Queen’s coronation, though in many cases kings and queens - who had been to the funeral of George VI the previous year - were represented by princes and princesses.
One source said: “The coronation will happen less than a year after the Queen’s funeral, so the message that may well be sent out is that ‘we’ve seen you all quite recently, so don’t feel obliged to go to the trouble of coming all this way again so soon’.”
Those close to the King say he would not want to turn his coronation into an international event on the scale of the late Queen’s funeral - Getty Images Europe© Provided by The TelegraphThe same source added: “The King, as well as his religious and state advisers, will be very aware that the coronation will be coming off the back of a very difficult winter for people and they will not want the event to be discordant with the mood of the nation.
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“The King is by nature quite a frugal person whenever he is able to be and I would expect he will want the coronation to focus more on the spiritual elements than the more showy parts.”
The King did not have any say over
the guest list for his mother’s funeral, which was the biggest ever gathering of world leaders on British soil, because it was the late Queen’s prerogative. And while he believes it was entirely appropriate for the international community to pay its respects to Britain’s longest-serving monarch, he does not believe his coronation merits such a large turnout.
Meanwhile the Prince of Wales acknowledged that protecting the environment had been a cause close to Queen Elizabeth’s heart, adding that she would have been “delighted” that the campaign to create lasting change was continuing in her absence.
