The coronation of King Charles III will be attended by 2,000 people - well down on the more than 8,000 guests who crammed into Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II's crowning in 1953. And it comes as no surprise that Myanmar and Russia are not invited to attend.
The event begins on Saturday 6 May 2023.
Here's what we know about who is expected to be there and who's not.
- Turning up –
- Prince Harry, estranged from most members of his family after quitting royal duties and airing his grievances in public, confirmed he would attend after months of reported negotiations with Buckingham Palace.
His wife Meghan will stay at home in California with their children.
- World leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Polish President Andrzej Duda; President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins; Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
- China vice-president Han Zheng. Senior Conservative MP and China critic Iain Duncan Smith labelled his likely attendance "outrageous". He said he had been "responsible for trashing" China's Hong Kong treaty with Britain by overseeing a crackdown on the territory's freedoms.
- Northern Ireland's nationalist first minister-elect Michelle O'Neill. Her party, Sinn Fein, wants reunification on the island of Ireland and opposes the monarchy. Sinn Fein was formerly the political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA blew up Charles's great uncle and mentor Louis Mountbatten in 1979.
- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty along with members of the cabinet.
- Hundreds of community heroes honoured by the monarchy including English schoolboy Max Woosey who slept in a tent in his garden for three years to raise money for charity, and Richard Thomas who delivered 10,000 prescriptions to people during the Covid-19 lockdown.
- Four hundred young people from organisations supported by the royal family.
- Royals including King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain; Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan; Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway; King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands; Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco; King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium; King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan; Queen Anne-Marie and Crown Prince Pavlos of the Greek royal family; Margareta, custodian of the Romanian crown and Prince Radu; Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg; Maori King Tuheitia; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand.
- Around 80 members of the lower and upper houses of the UK parliament.
- Food writer Tom Parker Bowles and art curator Laura Lopes, Queen Camilla's children, as well as their father Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla's first husband.
- Staying away or not invited –
- US President Joe Biden will represented by his wife First Lady Jill Biden. UK and US officials say this is in line with precedent and no president has ever attended a British sovereign's coronation.
The White House insisted the no-show by Biden who is famously proud of his Irish roots "is not a snub".
It said the president and the king enjoyed a "good relationship" and Biden had already accepted Charles's invitation for a state visit to the UK.
- The Myanmar junta and Russia are not invited on account of Britain’s stance on the Myanmar military coup and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- Prince Harry's wife Meghan will remain in California with children Lilibet and Archie, whose fourth birthday falls on the day of the coronation.
- Most of Britain's 24 non-royal dukes. The aristocrats normally attend in coronation robes and coronets but appear to have lost out due to Charles's reported wish for the invitation list to be "meritocratic not aristocratic".
The Duke of Rutland told the Daily Mail he was disappointed as it had been "families like mine that have supported he royal family over 1,000 years".
- British MPs have not been allowed to bring spouses or partners.
- Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of the king's brother Prince Andrew who still lives with him on the royal family's Windsor estate. Ferguson has repeatedly embarrassed the royal family.
- Lady Pamela Mountbatten, 94, daughter of Louis Mountbatten and one of only two surviving bridesmaids from Queen Elizabeth II's 1947 wedding.
Her daughter, India Hicks, said on Instagram the family had been contacted by a royal aide. She said they understood that the king was sending "apologies for offending many family and friends with the reduced list".
AFP, Mizzima
