When King Charles III and Queen Camilla are crowned on Saturday, they’ll be participating in a tradition dating back over 1000 years, wearing coronation robes and crown jewels that are nearly as historic.
Much else about the attire at the ceremony will feel decidedly modern in comparison.
The first coronation in 70 years will see several shifts from the 1953 ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II, particularly when it comes to the dress code. Then, the members of the aristocracy who attended wore coronation robes and coronets — a small crown. Members of the royal family were decked out in the best bling the royal vault had to offer: weighty diamond necklaces and tiaras, on top of evening gowns and sashes bearing a slew of pins representing the ceremonial orders they had been awarded.
King Charles, however, is determined to be a monarch for the 21st century, and as such, is giving the ceremony’s fashion a contemporary facelift. The fashion on Saturday is expected to be more like what you’d typically see at a royal wedding than a once-in-several-generations coronation. That’s true for everyone from the 2,000 guests (a major downsizing from Queen Elizabeth’s 8,000) to the senior members of the royal family. Valentine Low, the royal correspondent for The Times of London, published a story on Sunday stating that the Princess of Wales may forgo a tiara in favour of a flower crown.
The ceremonial dress code isn’t the only style change that’s happening around this year’s event. The past 70 years have seen an overhaul of the fashion industry, ushering in an age of larger-than-life marketing, product collaborations and speedy manufacturing. With that, more brands — particularly British labels — are capitalising on the coronation with special edition products and marketing stunts. At Sunday’s coronation concert at Windsor Castle — another modern innovation — expect to see British designers on the likes of performers such as Katy Perry and Nicole Scherzinger.
The timing of the coronation in the midst of a cost of living crisis in the UK, is thought to play a role in the scaling back of gilded excess. But it remains to be seen if the more pared-down approach will satisfy those craving the pomp and ceremony they’ve come to expect from the royal family.
“A massive, expensive, over-the-top showcase of all the jewels would seem really inappropriate and tone deaf, but at the same time, without that glitz and the glamour, does the royal family lose something?” said royal fashion expert Christine Ross. “It’s an absolutely impossible situation.”
What Is the Coronation Dress Code?
While most attire has shifted from coronations past, King Charles and Queen Camilla will remain decked out in their finest, including ermine-trimmed gold silk robes (though even those are sustainable — they’re recycled from the 1937 coronation of his grandfather, King George VI). Other notable pieces, like St. Edward’s Crown — a 1661 replica of the original made for Edward the Confessor, which was first used at the coronation of the last King Charles — in addition to the orb and sceptre, and a crown first made for Charles’ great-grandmother Queen Mary (which Camilla will be crowned with) will all be used. King Charles will be in military dress, while it’s been reported that Bruce Oldfield, Queen Camilla’s favoured designer, will make her coronation day gown.
For the rest of the attendees, it’s a different story. The bulk of guests will wear suits and formal daywear, with accessories like fascinators, which have become synonymous with royal occasions. However, in a particularly casual move, hats are reportedly not required, said royal correspondent Emily Andrews, meaning the dress code will be less formal than what’s required at royal weddings.
For senior members of the royal family, it’s expected that the men, like the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, will be in military uniforms befitting their honorary posts. What the women will wear remains more of a mystery. At coronations past, women of a similar rank to figures like the Princess of Wales or Duchess of Edinburgh would wear gowns and tiaras. Their outfits for Charles’ coronation won’t be revealed until the day of, and reports have been conflicting, particularly when it comes to whether senior royal women will wear tiaras to the ceremony. Most recent reports indicate they will leave the glittering headgear in the vault. (Though the floral headpiece could end up being a tiara with floral motifs.)
Even if they don’t wear tiaras, it’s likely that we’ll see other significant pieces of royal jewellery, like a brooch or earrings with a tie to the new monarch. The Duchess of Edinburgh, for example, wore a strawberry brooch she’d previously worn out with Queen Elizabeth at her funeral in September. The Princess of Wales’ outfit may include a nod to Wales, such as a daffodil, the Welsh national flower, in tribute to her new role.
What designer the Princess of Wales will wear is also under wraps, though it’ll undoubtedly be a British designer. Names speculated include Catherine Walker, Emilia Wickstead and Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, who made her wedding dress 12 years ago.
Rumours of the changes has spurred a bit of a backlash online, with some arguing that the casual clothes aren’t befitting of the once-in-a-generation occasion.
“There’s a bit of a disconnect. You’re going to be seeing Camilla and Charles and probably some of the most formal attire they will ever wear, with robes and crowns, and you’re going to see your royal women in an outfit that they might go to church in,” Andrews said.
As for the idea of a floral headpiece, she said: “This is a coronation. It is not Glastonbury.”
However, there’s been one last-minute change that will up the fancy factor: while it had been reported earlier that hereditary peers and members of the House of Lords will not be wearing coronation robes, as is tradition, The Telegraph ran a story earlier this week claiming there has been a change, and they now would be permitted to do so.
The shifts all come in an attempt to make the event feel more like it’s designed for the British people and less out-of-touch than in the past. For example, for the first time, there will be a “homage of the people,” in which Britons will be invited to pledge their allegiance to the monarch, something normally reserved for peers alone. Though Andrews made the point that with the coronation festivities themselves an estimated £100 million ($125.9 million), changing the dress code will only do so much.
How Are British Fashion Brands Participating?
Outside of Westminster Abbey, British brands are celebrating the occasion too. The streets and shops of London are decked out with coronation-themed decorations, catering to the swell of tourists and locals who will be in London for the celebrations.
“The atmosphere is electric and very joyous,” said Paul Gauger, executive vice president for the Americas, Australia and New Zealand at Visit Britain. “It’s a moment in history and people just want to be there and take that in.”
Some brands are rolling out new products for the event. Burberry released a silk scarf in partnership with Highgrove, King Charles’ private countryside home, that depicts an image of the property’s gardens. Brands like LK Bennett and Kiki McDonough, both of which have been go-tos for the Princess of Wales, are selling jewellery pieces in honour of the coronation, while Asprey is selling a commemorative jewellery box in royal purple.
London-based jewellery brand Annoushka, another favourite of the Princess of Wales, debuted a coronation-themed charm, a miniature version of the St. Edwards Crown, featuring rubies, sapphires and emeralds. It’s previously made charms for other royal events, like last year’s Platinum Jubilee. Only 100 charms were made, and each is stamped with the coronation hallmark. The brand’s founder Annoushka Ducas said that she’s seen interest in the product not just in the UK, but in the US and Asia, particularly Hong Kong.
“Jewellery is here forever, think about the crown jewels, which have been around for centuries,” she said. “It felt absolutely natural to do a charm to commemorate the coronation and celebrate something which is truly British.”
Along with the charm, the brand published a coronation-themed “newspaper” called the Annoushka Gazette, which features excerpts from Ducas’ podcast interview with Lady Anne Glenconner, a lady-in-waiting to the late Princess Margaret, plus images of members of the royal family wearing their products. It’ll be placed in hotels around the UK as well as VIP shopping suites in department stores around the coronation.
British brands are also likely to make an appearance at Sunday’s coronation concert at Windsor Castle, where performers like Lionel Richie and Katy Perry are set to take the stage.
“Higher end brands are jumping in on this celebration just as much as lower-scale brands; every shop has a coronation edit and the windows are conveniently dressed up red, white and blue,” said Ross. “There’s a real sense of nationalism and a cultural celebration of what it means to be British.”