King Charles follows late Queen and Meghan's lead with nod to Commonwealth countries on coronation day
King Charles III will honour the Commonwealth countries with a subtle gesture during his coronation on May 6, it has been revealed.
The King’s tribute follows similar gestures made by both his mother, the late Queen Elizebeth II, during the 1953 coronation, and his daughter-in-law Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on her wedding day.
Embroiderers have been working for “months” stitching the names of all 54 Commonwealth countries onto the partitions that will shield the monarch from public view when he is anointed with holy oil during the coronation.
The designs have been created by the Royal School of Needlework and are the King’s way of showing respect for the late Queen’s love of the Commonwealth nations, a source told The Mirror.
The King’s decision to honour Commonwealth countries in this way is similar to that of his mother’s coronation, when Elizabeth had floral emblems of all of the Commonwealth countries embroidered onto her coronation gown.
These included the New Zealand silver fern, Canadian maple leaf, the Australian wattle, and Pakistan’s wheat, cotton, and jute, alongside an English Tudor rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh leek and an Irish shamrock.
The gown took eight months to research, design, and embroider, and was designed by Norman Hartnell.
The Duchess of Sussex paid tribute to the Queen and the Commonwealth nations on her wedding day to Prince Harry in 2018, as her 16ft veil was embroidered with all of the signature flowers of the Commonwealth.
“[Harry was] really over the moon to find out that I would make this choice for our day together,” Meghan said of the veil in the 2018 HBO documentary, Queen of the World.
“I think the other members of the family had a similar reaction,” she added.
While neither Princess Diana, nor Queen Camilla included Commonwealth imagery into their wedding dress designs, Kate's veil included floral motifs to symbolise the four nations that make up the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The King’s nod to Commonwealth nations comes after he travelled to Barbados in 2021 to see the country become a republic.
In June last year, Jamaica revealed it intended to become a republic by 2025, which would remove the monarch as head of state.
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