The King is planning a “low carbon” coronation next year and could tell Commonwealth leaders they do not need to attend, in order to cut the number of aircraft heading to London.
Buckingham Palace is expected to announce a date in May or June for the event, which will be on a noticeably smaller scale than the late Queen’s coronation in 1953.
The plans are still at an early stage because nothing was discussed in detail before Queen Elizabeth’s death, and Palace officials have months to thrash out the guest list.
However, royal sources confirmed that deciding who is invited will be a “balancing act” between keeping the carbon footprint down and adhering to protocol.
The King has spent decades drawing attention to climate change and is expected to use a state visit to France next month – the first of his reign – to highlight a scheme to plant millions of trees in Africa.
Those close to him say he would not want to turn his coronation into an international event on the scale of the late Queen’s funeral, which brought dozens of private jets to London.
Invitees could be urged to travel on scheduled flights
One source familiar with the King’s thinking said it was possible that Commonwealth leaders and members of foreign royal families could be invited but told that their attendance would be left to their own discretion. Alternatively, they could be urged to travel on scheduled flights.
More than 60 members of foreign royal families attended the late Queen’s coronation, though in many cases kings and queens – who had been to the funeral of George VI the previous year – were represented by princes and princesses.
One source said: “The coronation will happen less than a year after the Queen’s funeral, so the message that may well be sent out is that ‘we’ve seen you all quite recently, so don’t feel obliged to go to the trouble of coming all this way again so soon’.”
The same source added: “The King, as well as his religious and state advisers, will be very aware that the coronation will be coming off the back of a very difficult winter for people and they will not want the event to be discordant with the mood of the nation.
“The King is by nature quite a frugal person whenever he is able to be and I would expect he will want the coronation to focus more on the spiritual elements than the more showy parts.”
The King did not have any say over the guest list for his mother’s funeral, which was the biggest ever gathering of world leaders on British soil, because it was the late Queen’s prerogative. And while he believes it was entirely appropriate for the international community to pay its respects to Britain’s longest-serving monarch, he does not believe his coronation merits such a large turnout.
Prince of Wales unable to travel to New York
Meanwhile the Prince of Wales acknowledged that protecting the environment had been a cause close to Queen Elizabeth’s heart, adding that she would have been “delighted” that the campaign to create lasting change was continuing in her absence.
In a video message broadcast to the Earthshot Innovation Summit in New York, Prince William said he had taken “great comfort” in the ongoing enthusiasm of the supporters of his environmental prize.
The summit, taking place during NYC Climate Week and the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, convened inaugural Earthshot finalists, global business leaders, philanthropists and activists.
Before the Queen’s death the Prince had been due to meet Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who sits on the board of the Earthshot Prize, to begin the countdown to the second annual awards in early December.
Instead, he said in his video message, recorded on the Windsor estate on Tuesday that it was “the saddest of circumstances” which meant he had been unable to travel.
“During this time of grief, I take great comfort in your continued enthusiasm, optimism and commitment to the Earthshot Prize and what we are trying to achieve,” he said.
“Protecting the environment was a cause close to my grandmother’s heart, and I know she would have been delighted to hear about this event and the support you are all giving our Earthshot Finalists – the next generation of environmental pioneers.”
In a video address to world leaders at Cop26 last November, the late Queen said it was time to act now on climate change for the sake of “our children, and our children’s children”.
She used the video address to make her most significant intervention on the environment, urging delegates to “achieve true statesmanship” by taking action.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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