Joanna Lumley will be among the 2,000 guests attending the King’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.
Sky News announced on Thursday (13 April) that the Absolutely Fabulous star will be joining correspondents Alastair Bruce, Kay Burley and Anna Botting as a special guest in the news coverage on the day, fresh from attending the coronation service.
The statement reads: “The actress will join the Sky News line-up on Saturday fresh from attending the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey as a guest of the King and Queen Consort.”
The news comes as Buckingham Palace confirmed on Wednesday (12 April) that Prince Harry will be attending the King’s coronation, without his wife Meghan.
Lumley is reportedly a “close friend” of King Charles and attended his wedding to Camilla in 2005.
“I know them [the royal family], so I know it’s all made up and it’s rubbish,” she told Women’s Weekly previously.
She added: “All the poor actors who are doing their best to copy them, it’s awful. Imagine somebody making up conversations they think you’ve had.”
Lumley reportedly said The Crown is “laughable” and “insane”.
The last time Britain held a coronation ceremony was 70 years ago, when the Queen was crowned on 2 June 1953 at the age of 27.
Prior to that, her father King George VI’s coronation ceremony took place 16 years earlier in 1937, when Her Majesty was just 11 years old.
King Charles’s coronation is planned to be a more “slimmed down” affair.
The King and Queen’s coronation are expected to be attended by 2,000 guests in attendance. This is quite a departure from the King’s late mother’s own coronation in 1953, which saw 8,000 guests present.
In comparison to his mother, King Charles and Queen Camilla’s procession is set to stretch just 1.3 miles, a quarter of the length of Elizabeth’s.
Sky News’ Coronation coverage will be available to watch for free on Sky News TV and on Sky Showcase (7am-3pm).
