Details of who will carry the priceless regalia and take part in the coronation procession at Westminster Abbey on 6 May has been released by Buckingham Palace.
The former TV presenter Floella Benjamin and the human rights barrister Helena Kennedy are among those selected for the historic roles, in which the crown jewels will be processed through the abbey ahead of King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort.
The St Edward’s crown, with which Charles III will be crowned, will be borne by the governor of the Tower of London, Gen Sir Gordon Messenger. Camilla’s crown will be carried by the Duke of Wellington.
The St Edwards’s Staff will be carried by the former director general of MI5, Elizabeth Manningham-Buller. Kennedy will carry the queen consort’s rod, while Benjamin will carry King Charles’s sceptre with dove.
Benjamin said: “To be selected to carry the sovereign’s sceptre with dove, which represents spirituality, equity and mercy, is for me very symbolic as it’s everything I stand for and sends out a clear message that diversity and inclusion is being embraced.”
Penny Mordaunt, as leader of the Commons and lord president of the council, is to carry the king’s sword of state.
The historic role of king’s champion, who in bygone days would ride on horseback into the coronation banquet and challenge any who doubted the right of the king or queen to the throne, falls to Francis Dymoke, a former accountant and the 34th generation of the family to run the Scrivelsby country estate in Lincolnshire, whose family has performed the role since the middle ages. As there has not been a coronation banquet since that held by King George IV in 1821, which by all accounts was the most lavish event, the role is a little more sedate and now involves carrying the royal standard.
Petty Officer Amy Taylor will be the first woman to bear the jewelled sword of offering, selected to represent service men and women. She said: “Having served most of my senior career as an aircraft engineer on 845 naval air squadron at RNAS Yeovilton, where His Majesty originally trained and served as a pilot, I am deeply honoured and humbled to play my part in this historic event.”
Faith leaders and representatives will head the first procession into Westminster Abbey, followed shortly by representatives from the king’s realms. Flags of each realm will be carried by national representatives accompanied by the governors general and prime ministers.
Bearing the UK flag ahead of Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, will be Cadet Warrant Officer Elliott Tyson-Lee, who said: “It is a great and incredible honour to be a part of Their Majesties’ coronation service as a representative of the Royal Air Force air cadets.”
They will be followed by the procession of the king and the queen consort, led by the Marquess of Anglesey, the Duke of Westminster, the Earl of Caledon and the Earl of Dundee who will carry the standards of the quarterings of the Royal Arms and standard of the principality of Wales.
It also emerged that the king and the queen consort will visit Westminster Hall to attend a reception ahead of the coronation on 2 May, where they will meet members from both houses of parliament including the speakers, senior leaders and those with shared interests, including the environment, education and the arts.
