Prince William ‘pleased’ that key aspect of King Charles’ coronation snubbed royal tradition

Prince William reportedly explained that he and Kate Middleton were quite “pleased” that a key aspect of King Charles’ coronation snubbed a royal tradition.  

• The Prince of Wales is said to have got candid about being glad that King Charles’ coronation didn’t last quite as long as ceremonies have in the past.
• The Royal Family had an intense day on May 6 but Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth’s coronation services were significantly longer.
• This royal news comes as Lady Louise Windsor’s coronation concert outfit proved black and gold is still the ultimate glamorous combination. 

Kneeling down to pay homage to King Charles during the coronation ceremony, Prince William’s display of affection toward his father was one of the stand-out moments of this special day. The Prince of Wales, who is first in the royal line of succession, swore his allegiance to King Charles and later joined him on the Buckingham Palace balcony with their fellow working royals and the Pages of Honor. Prince William’s schedule remained busy over the next few days and, much to the delight of fans, Prince William and Princess Catherine undertook a surprise walkabout ahead of the coronation concert. 

Stepping out on May 7 on The Long Walk at Windsor Castle the future King reportedly spoke to choir member Sam Leckenby. And it seems Prince William is “pleased” that one aspect of His Majesty’s big day departed from royal tradition…

As per The Mirror, Sam claimed that the Prince of Wales discussed the length of the ceremony in particular, comparing it to those that have gone before.

“They mentioned they were quite pleased yesterday’s ceremony wasn’t the original five hours long,” Sam claimed. “They were just really lovely.”

In the past British coronations have been far from brief, with Queen Victoria’s coronation ceremony in 1838 lasting around five hours. According to Westminster Abbey, this was in part down to a lack of rehearsal as no-one apart from Queen Victoria herself and the Dean of Westminster knew what was supposed to be happening at the service. 

Meanwhile, her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth’s coronation ceremony took over three hours. The Royal Family website has previously revealed that whilst the actual service at the Abbey might’ve been shorter than Queen Victoria’s, the procession took participants a further two hours to complete. 

Ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation reports had circulated suggesting that His Majesty was looking to break royal tradition and streamline the service. The final ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6 lasted for around two hours instead making it significantly shorter than Queen Victoria’s and still relatively short compared to Queen Elizabeth’s. 

Given that Prince William and Princess Catherine had plenty of engagements over the coronation weekend it perhaps makes sense that they would be “pleased” the coronation service didn’t uphold royal tradition with its length.

For many of these engagements they were accompanied by their three children who seem to have found the two hour ceremony plenty long enough! 

At the same walkabout a little girl apparently asked Prince William where Princess Charlotte was, to which he reportedly replied, “She’s very tired after yesterday. She’s having a quiet day at home. It was making sure her little brother behaved [him]self.”

With his three Wales grandchildren all under the age of ten, King Charles’ decision to have a two hour ceremony rather than three or five hours was likely appreciated by them too.