Courtiers are split on who was to blame for the Prince and Princess of Wales' change of procession position at Westminster Abbey for King Charles' coronation last May, a new book has revealed.
William and Kate attended the historic crowning of the king and Queen Camilla at the abbey on May 6, 2023, taking part in a day of precision-planned pageantry that included processions, military flypasts and the ancient coronation ceremony itself.
The arrivals of members of the royal family and the king and queen to the abbey on the rainy London morning of May 6 were tightly planned and printed in the official order of service, which was released to the public ahead of time.
In the program, William, Kate, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were listed to "arrive at the Great West Door" ahead of Charles and Camilla, to be "conducted to their seats in the Lantern."
In reality, on the day, the millions of viewers around the globe who tuned in to watch the event saw a last-minute change of plan.
The golden carriage carrying the king and queen arrived at the abbey ahead of the car that was carrying the Wales family. And instead of walking in ahead of the soon-to-be-crowned monarchs, they walked behind.
Traditionally, the king and queen are always the last royals to arrive at an event, being the most senior members. And however natural the group made the last-minute change appear, it did not go unnoticed among the cohort of eager monarchists.
Now, royal biographer Robert Hardman has revealed in his new book, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, which was published in Britain on Thursday, that behind-palace-wall sources are unclear on what exactly went wrong.
Hardman writes that both the king and queen, and prince and princess had their timings off on the morning of the procession. Charles and Camilla arrived at the abbey seven minutes early, while William and Kate were a minute and a half behind.
While the Wales family had been scheduled to arrive at the abbey eight minutes before the king and queen, this meant they were half a minute late.
"Although the congregation inside the abbey don't know it, there is an awkward scene unfolding outside as the King and Queen remain in their coach," Hardman wrote of the day.
"It is an added layer of stress that the couple really do not want or need on a day like this. A Sky News camera captures the monarch's frustration, the words translated by a lipreader: 'We can never be on time...There's always something...This is boring.'"
"It's a snapshot of a man under extreme pressure in the full gaze of the world's media," the author continued. "There will be plenty of post-mortems once this is over."
Over what exactly went wrong, when and why William and Kate were a minute and a half late, Hardman writes that a behind-the-scenes consensus has not been agreed upon.
"Conflicting sources will suggest that the Waleses' decision to make a Coronation Day video has added precious seconds to their schedule and made them late," he wrote.
"Kensington Palace staff working for the Waleses say that because the King was early, the car carrying William and Catherine was caught behind his procession when it should have been ahead.
"The Prince of Wales's equerry, Commander Rob Dixon, will take a fair amount of flak, nonetheless. It is unusual for the two most important arrivals at such a significant event, and over such a well-trodden route, to be so unpunctual. The result is some frantic rewriting of the running order."
No official reason for the change was given by Buckingham Palace at the time of the coronation.
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace via email for comment.
The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy is published in the United States by Pegasus Books.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
