One day – hopefully many years from now – the world will be celebrating the coronation of a new King George. Meanwhile, the young Prince George of Wales is only 9 and the coronation of his grandfather Charles III will be his introduction to the family business.
George will have a key role as “Page of Honour” to the King, becoming the youngest future king to play an official role at a coronation.
While the Page is a ceremonial role it also has an important job; ensuring that King Charles doesn’t trip over his long robes as he walks down the aisle at Westminster Cathedral.
George will be the youngest of four pages. The three others, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, Nicholas Barclay, 13 and Ralph Tollemache, 12, are all the children and grandchildren of Charles’s friends.
They will wear a scarlet frock coat with gold trimmings, a white satin waistcoat, white breeches, white gloves, a lace cravat and a feathered three-cornered hat. They will also each wear a small sword to protect the King.
Prince William and his wife Kate are said to have had many conversations both among themselves and with George about whether he wanted to be, and felt ready, to take such a place in the spotlight but the youngster is said to have readily agreed.
“There’s a difficult balance to be struck between preparing younger royals for their lifetime and service and duty and maintaining their privacy so that they can grow up as peacefully as possible,” says royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti.
“When you are born to be a future king, your life is bound to be different from most people’s but that’s one reason why William and Catherine have been so keen to give their children at least a hint of normality in their childhood. To be a good monarch, you might do well to have a sense of what life is like for everyone else, at least growing up.
“The coronation is a great opportunity for Prince George to start more serious ceremonial duties, although he is still very young and we can only hope he will not be too heavily scrutinized for his role.
“It will be touching and deeply symbolic to see King Charles, along with his son and grandson involved in the ceremony. That sense of continuity is one of the hallmarks of the monarchy; seeing those three generations not only present but taking part will be striking.”
George’s younger siblings Princess Charlotte, who turns eight just a few days before the Coronation, and Prince Louis, five – both of whom the public have fallen in love with after their cheeky displays at the Queen’s Jubilee last year — are not expected to play a formal role at the coronation but will take part in the procession as the King leaves Westminster Cathedral to go back to Buckingham Palace.
They are also expected to be on the balcony at the Palace along with all the working royals.
“It’s great to see that Prince George’s siblings will be involved too,” adds Sacerdoti. “It would have been easy for them all to be fell left out and we know how harmful that feeling can be for royals not likely to ever be king or queen – one only needs to look at Prince Harry to see the potential negative effects of being made to feel like a ‘spare.’”
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