Prince William’s Coronation tipped for ‘major changes’

Prince William’s future Coronation is more likely to feature “major, major changes” than the upcoming one of King Charles III, an expert has claimed. Religious and constitutional commentator Catherine Pepinster believes conversations regarding the historic event to be held next year at Westminster Abbey have been taking place for a few years now, although never in an official capacity out of respect for the late Queen Elizabeth II.But the fact that there are only a few months separating Charles’s accession to the throne and his Coronation leads her to think the crowning of the new King is more likely to present some “nipping and tucking” rather than a revolution in the way it is undertaken.Appearing on the webinar titled Planning for the next Coronation, and the new Reign hosted by UCL’s The Constitution Unit, Ms Pepinster said: “There has been quite a bit that has been planned over the years. I have talked to the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who was involved in discussions about the monarchy, and he left that role almost a decade ago.”So this has been clearly thought about for a long time, although if you ever asked somebody at Clarence House, then representing the Prince of Wales, they implied that it was not going on because it was rather vulgar to plan the crowning of the next monarch while there was one alive and kicking.”But it has clearly been thought about for a long time, so it’s not that they are starting from scratch and giving themselves only a few months. Prince William has been tipped to play a major role in the preparation of Charles’s Coronation (Image: GETTY) King Charles III acceded to the throne on September 8 (Image: GETTY)”I think they have got plenty in the filing cabinet to fish out and dust down. It’s just a question of finessing.”That’s why I think there’s a lot that won’t change now because they left it too late to change.”If you are something who is a great reformer in the Coronation you should have your eyes on the next one after this for major, major changes.”I think we are going to see some nipping and tucking rather than it being ripped apart.” READ MORE: The Crown will show ‘tampongate’ in sympathetic manner The Queen was crowned in June 1953 (Image: GETTY) Prince William is the heir to the throne (Image: GETTY)During the event, the commentator had also said she suspects Charles’s eldest son and heir, Prince William, may be “flexing his muscles” as the preparation for his father’s Coronation are underway and push for it to be “considerably modernised”.This prominent role, Ms Pepinster noted while providing an example taken from royal history, could be useful to the new Prince of Wales when the time will come to plan his own event at Westminster Abbey.She said: “It’s always very useful, because when Edward VIII was King and they started planning his Coronation he wasn’t particularly interested in it and he sent his brother, the Duke of York, to attend the meetings.”And then when Edward abdicated the Duke of York, who became King George VI, was pretty primed for what was being considered for the Coronation. And his happened quite quickly.”DON’T MISS Queen ‘went out of her way to make Kate feel welcome’ at Balmoral [REPORT]King and Queen forced to wait for Queen Mother’s death before marriage [INSIGHT]Princess Charlotte’s ‘behaviour’ at funeral meant Kate was ‘scolded’ [ANALYSIS] Prince William during an engagement in Scotland (Image: GETTY)Earlier this month, Buckingham Palace announced the Coronation of the new sovereign will take place on May 6 next year. As it has happened over the last nine centuries, the ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, where the King and his wife the Queen Consort will be anointed and crowned together by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Coronation, the Palace statement said, “will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.” The first Coronation to take place in seven decades is expected to be shorter than the three-hour affair that was the crowning of the late Queen. Reports in September also claimed the number of guests will be slashed and priority will be given to representatives of the overseas realms and the Commonwealth.