London — A 2023 photo of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, credited to Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has been flagged as “digitally enhanced at source” by international photo agency, Getty. The move came after a more recent image, a British Mother’s Day photo released by Kensington Palace in March, was found to have been digitally altered.
The older image was released by Buckingham Palace on April 21, 2023 to mark what would have been the queen’s 97th birthday. Like the photo Princess Kate has now admitted to “editing” of her and her children, the 2023 image was credited to the princess herself, who’s said she enjoys photography as a hobby.
“Getty Images is undertaking a review of handout images and in accordance with its editorial policy is placing an editor’s note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced,” a Getty spokesperson told CBS News on Tuesday.
CBS News has circled several parts of this image, originally shared by Buckingham Palace in April 2023 but said to have been taken the previous year by Catherine, the Princess of Wales, with discrepancies that appear to indicate photo editing or manipulation.
Buckingham Palace/CBS News
The photo was said to have been taken at the royal family‘s Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, in August 2022. A number of inconsistencies are visible upon inspection, including an apparent distortion of the queen’s plaid skirt, several parts of a sofa with misalignments, and a blurred edge along the neck of Prince Louis (at right in the image above).
Getty’s new editorial note came amid speculation over Kate’s health, which was fueled by the discovery of the edits to the March image of her and her children.
In January, Kensington Palace said Kate would be undergoing planned abdominal surgery and taking time to recover in private at least until Easter, on March 31. It said there would be no updates on her health as she recuperated, but then on Britain’s Mother’s Day in March, the couple released the photo of Kate and her three children that had clearly been doctored.
Kate admitted in a social media post to editing the image, but Kensington Palace has refused to release an original, unedited version.
British tabloids reported Sunday that Kate was spotted in public for the first time since she disappeared.
The Sun tabloid newspaper said Kate and her husband Wiliam, the Prince of Wales, were seen at a farm shop near her family’s home in Windsor, west of London, on Saturday. The tabloid quoted onlookers as saying she appeared “happy, relaxed and healthy.” A grainy video clip of the couple walking out of the shop later emerged.
The Sun also reported on Sunday that Kate and William had been seen watching their children play sports, but no images had surfaced of that outing as of Tuesday.
“I think the fact Kate has been seen looking happy, healthy and active will hopefully dampen speculation,” Royah Nikkhah, the royal editor for Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, told CBS News. “Whether or not she chooses to walk to church on Easter Sunday, she may or may not. But I think they’re still expecting her to resume public duties mid April.”
Amman, Jordan — Jordan’s highly anticipated royal wedding day got underway on Thursday with the surprise announcement that Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate had arrived to witness the nuptials of Crown Prince Hussein and his Saudi Arabian bride. The attendance of the British royals had been kept under wraps and was only confirmed by Jordanian state media a few hours before the start of the palace ceremony.
The wedding of Jordan’s 28-year-old heir to the throne and Rajwa Alseif, a 29-year-old architect linked to her own country’s monarch, emphasizes continuity in an Arab state prized for its longstanding stability. The festivities, which are to start Thursday afternoon, also introduce Hussein to a wider global audience.
Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein, second left, sits with his father, King Abdullah II, third left, during a celebration in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023, a day before the crown prince’s wedding to Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif.
Raad Adayleh/AP
The celebration buttresses the royal family’s order of succession, refreshes its image after a palace feud and may even help resource-poor Jordan forge a strategic bond with its oil-rich neighbor, Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday morning, Saudi wedding guests and tourists — the men wearing white dishdasha robes and the women in brightly colored abayas — filtered through the sleek marbled lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman. Noura Al Sudairi, an aunt of the bride, was wearing sweatpants and sneakers on her way to breakfast.
“We are all so excited, so happy about this union,” she said. “Of course it’s a beautiful thing for our families, and for the relationship between Jordan and Saudi Arabia.”
A poster with pictures of Crown Prince Hussein and his fiancee, Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif, is seen on a road in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023.
Nasser Nasser/AP
Excitement over the nuptials — Jordan’s biggest royal event in years — has been building in the capital of Amman, where congratulatory banners of Hussein and his beaming bride adorn buses and hang over winding hillside streets. Shops had competing displays of royal regalia. Royal watchers speculated about which dress designer Alseif would select- still an official secret,
Nancy Tirana, a 28-year-old law intern, said she spent the last week scrutinizing Alseif’s every move and stitch of clothing.
“She’s just so beautiful, so elegant, and it’s clear from her body language how much she loves the queen,” she said, referring to Hussein’s glamorous mother, Rania. “I feel like all of Jordan is getting married,” Tirana gushed as she ate mansaf, Jordan’s national dish of milky mutton and rice, before heading to a wedding-themed concert.
Jordan’s 11 million citizens have watched the young crown prince rise in prominence in recent years, as he increasingly joined his father, King Abdullah II, in public appearances. Hussein has graduated from Georgetown University, joined the military and gained some global recognition speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. His wedding, experts say, marks his next crucial rite of passage.
Crown Prince Hussein attends a celebration in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023, a day before his wedding to Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif.
Royal Hashemite Court via AP
“It’s not just a marriage, it’s the presentation of the future king of Jordan,” said political analyst Amer Sabaileh. “The issue of the crown prince has been closed.”
The wedding may create a brief feel-good moment for Jordanians during tough economic times, including persistent youth unemployment and an ailing economy.
Palace officials have turned the event – a week after Jordan’s 77th birthday – into something of a PR campaign. Combining tradition and modernity, the royal family introduced a wedding hashtag (#Celebrating Al Hussein) and omnipresent logo that fuses the couple’s initials into the Arabic words “We rejoice”
Photos and reels from Alseif’s henna party — a traditional pre-wedding celebration featuring the bride and her female friends and relatives — and the couple’s engagement ceremony in Saudi Arabia last summer have splashed across state-linked media.
The kingdom declared Thursday a public holiday so crowds of people could gather after the wedding service to wave at the couple’s motorcade of red Land Rover jeeps — a nod to the traditional procession of horse riders clad in red coats during the reign of the country’s founder, King Abdullah I. Tens of thousands of well-wishers are expected to flock to free concerts and cultural events. Huge screens have been set up nationwide for crowds to watch the occasion unfold.
The signing of the marriage contract will take place at Zahran Palace in Amman, which hasn’t seen such pomp and circumstance since 1993, when, on a similarly sunny June day, Abdullah married Rania, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Decades earlier, Abdullah’s father, the late King Hussein, sealed his vows in the same garden with his second wife, the British citizen Antoinette Gardiner.
In addition to the Prince and Princess of Wales, the guest list includes an array of foreign aristocrats and dignitaries, including senior royals from Europe and Asia, as well as First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry. Other likely attendees include Saudi aristocrats, as Alseif’s mother traces her roots to the influential wife of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Her billionaire father owns a major construction firm in the kingdom.
After the ceremony, the wedding party will move to Al Husseiniya Palace, a 30-minute drive away, for a reception, entertainment and a state banquet. The royals are expected to greet more than 1,700 guests at the reception.
Experts consider the marriage an advantageous alliance for the Hashemites, historic rivals of the Al Saud family to the east. Jordan has recently sought closer ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab petrostates, which once doled out billions of dollars to the aid-dependent country but since have reined in their spending.
Even as restaurants blared call-and-response Arabic wedding songs and cars honked in celebration downtown, some signaled the royal fairy tale was fraught as Jordanians struggle to make ends meet.
Osama, a 25-year-old bookseller, was thrilled about the occasion and festooned his car and shop windows with portraits of the royal family. But he also knew reality would return quickly.
“Of course, it’s joyful,” he said, declining to give his last name for fear of reprisals. “But in a couple days, we’ll just go back to our problems.”
London — The official photos taken for King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation ceremony were being released Monday by Britain’s royal family. The first of the photos, published on the royals’ official Twitter page, shows the king, who was formally crowned Saturday, seated in ceremonial robes with his Sovereign’s Sceptre in one and the Sovereign’s Orb in the other.
Britain’s King Charles is pictured in full regalia in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London. The king is wearing the Robe of Estate, the Imperial State Crown and is holding the Sovereign’s Orb and Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.
Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/Handout via REUTERS
As the official photographer for the coronation, Hugo Burnand was entrusted with capturing the portraits of the royal couple that will forever symbolize the beginning of Charles’ reign. But Burnand told CBS News the weight of that responsibility would be the last thing on his mind as he looked through his camera to frame up the royals.
In an interview before Saturday’s coronation ceremony at London’s ancient Westminster Abbey, Hugo told CBS News that one secret behind pulling off such a monumental task, is good old fashioned personal relationships — such as his own, with the king and queen.
“Deep down, it’s about emotion, and to get the right emotion, I have to have the right emotion,” Burnand told CBS News. “If you’re thinking too much your mind is distracted, and you can’t connect with the person.”
Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla are pictured in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London, May 8, 2023.
Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/Handout via REUTERS
He stressed that focusing on the enormity of the task at hand simply wouldn’t “work for me.”
“I remain true to myself and my relationship with him through the camera and trust that, historically, that has worked,” he said.
Burnand has spent years photographing Britain’s high society elite, plying his trade at events and parties for Tatler magazine. Rubbing shoulders so frequently with the upper classes eventually led him to photograph Camilla Parker Bowles — back when her only title was “Miss.”
Britain’s Queen Camilla is pictured in The Green Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace, London, wearing Queen Mary’s Crown and Robe of Estate, on May 8, 2023.
Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/Handout via REUTERS
His reputation as a royal photographer was cemented when he was asked to photograph then-Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding in 2005. It was a career-defining job he nearly had to turn down, as he was in South America at the time with his family and all their passports were stolen.
Burnand described bringing in his own mother, also a photographer, as his “number one assistant” for the royal couple’s big day. He said the circumstances around the wedding shoot ended up proving vital to firming up his connection with the royal family.
“From that moment on, we’ve had a relationship which is more than just photographer,” he said.
“So, when you asked me, ‘What does it look like to look through the lens and see King Charles III?’ Obviously, I take notice of what I’m looking at,” Burnand said, becoming visibly emotional. “We’ve worked together with this rather nice relationship for such a long time that I see someone I know already well.”
Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla are pictured with “working” members of the royal family: the Duke of Kent, the Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Gloucester, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Princess Royal, King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy, the Duke of Edinburgh. Picture date: Monday May 8, 2023. Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/Handout via
Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/Handout via REUTERS
Building trust with the royals also earned him the opportunity to photograph the wedding of Prince William and Kate, the now-Prince and Princess of Wales, in 2011. One of the pictures he’s most proud of captured the newlyweds surrounded by the bridesmaids and pageboys in playful, relaxed poses, during an otherwise extremely formal event.
“It is the real characters of every individual that has come through in that moment,” Burnand said proudly. “What you see in that picture is real life.”
But as important as his personal connection with his subjects might be, another secret to his success as a royal photographer is Burnand’s meticulous planning.
Keen to never keep his A-list clientele waiting, he practices every step of a photoshoot by holding stopwatch-timed dress rehearsals, going so far as to get staff to step in and play each of the royals. The goal, he said, is to be prepared for every eventuality and keep the process running as smoothly as possible. He even brings spares of every single piece of equipment that could fail.
“We’ve even practiced putting in the spare [light] bulb,” he said, “just to see how I would react and how it would affect the timing of the whole thing.”
Bernard said knowing when he’s captured the images he really wants is something he just has to feel. He said he’s found that he naturally snaps is fingers when he feels he’s got what he was looking for — and that was the moment he was looking forward to the most ahead of coronation day.
Britain’s King Charles III was officially crowned in a lavish coronation ceremony on Saturday, along with his wife, Queen Camilla. Here is a look at how the historic day unfolded in pictures.
Coldstream Guards and London Metropolitan Police march in the procession ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
/ Getty Images
It was 57 degrees Fahrenheit and raining in London, but that didn’t stop crowds from camping outside Buckingham Palace.
The Diamond Jubilee State Coach, accompanied by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, travels along The Mall en route to Westminster Abbey.
Gareth Fuller / Getty Images
King Charles and Queen Camilla rode in the Diamond Jubilee Coach from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. The king waved to the crowd during the 1.3-mile King’s Procession through central London.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla traveled in the Diamond Jubilee Coach from Buckingham Palace en route to Westminster Abbey for their coronation on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
Getty Images
Britain’s King Charles III waves as he rides in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, during the “King’s Procession.”
CHARLES MCQUILLAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Military personnel marched down the Mall in the King’s Procession ahead of the coronation.
Military personnel march down the Mall in the King’s Procession ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Gareth Fuller / Getty Images
Meanwhile, around 2,000 invited guests, including royalty and world leaders, gathered at Westminster Abbey to await the ceremony.
First lady of the United States, Dr Jill Biden, and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden ahead of the coronation.
Andrew Matthews / Getty Images
American first lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter, Finnegan, were in the crowd at Westminster Abbey. President Biden did not attend, but U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Jane Hartley told CBS News that Mr. Biden spoke by phone with the king and is looking forward to visiting.
Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte arrive at Westminster Abbey.
ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, arrived at Westminster Abbey with two of their children, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. At one point, photographers captured the 5-year-old prince yawning during the ceremony.
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis arriving at Westminster Abbey.
Andrew Milligan / Getty Images
Prince Louis yawned during the coronation ceremony as he sat with his parents, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and his sister, Princess Charlotte.
Yui Mok/Getty Images
William and Kate’s oldest son, Prince George, served as a Page of Honor for King Charles.
Prince George of Wales served as a Page of Honour during the coronation of his grandfather, Britain’s King Charles III.
GARETH CATTERMOLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Charles’ younger sister, Princess Anne, arrived at the coronation. Anne took part in the ceremony as the Gold-Stick-in-Waiting, a privilege that dates back to the 15th century. The Gold Stick and Silver Stick are entrusted with the personal safety of the sovereign.
Anne, Princess Royal arrives at the coronation.
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, arrived with his daughter, Princess Eugenie. Andrew, who is not a “working” royal, did not take part in the procession.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Princess Eugenie of York traveling in the state car.
/ Getty Images
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attended the coronation without his wife, Meghan, or two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives for the coronation.
PHIL NOBLE / Getty Images
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the coronation of his father, King Charles III.
BEN STANSALL / Getty Images
As with Andrew, Harry did not take part in the official procession since he is not a “working” royal.
James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and Lady Louise Windsor arrive ahead of the coronation.
/ Getty Images
King Charles’ youngest brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, arrived at the coronation with their children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty were also among the world leaders at Westminster Abbey for the coronation.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty arrives ahead of the coronation.
PHIL NOBLE / Getty Images
Coronation ceremonies for British kings and queens have been held at Westminster Abbey for the last 900 years.
Queen Camilla arrives for her coronation at Westminster Abbey, on May 6, 2023.
Andrew Matthews / Getty Images
Queen Camilla wore a long ivory gown for the ceremony.
In 2022, Queen Elizabeth announced that Camilla would have the title of Queen Consort when Charles became king. While Charles said he and Camilla were “deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother’s wish,” when his coronation invitations went out, Camilla’s title was changed to simply “Queen.” On Friday night, the palace referred to Camilla as the queen for the first time. Britain’s PA news wire said the change had taken effect as of the beginning of coronation day, even before Camilla was formally crowned.
Queen Camilla is crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during the coronation.
Yui Mok / Getty Images
Queen Camilla was crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown. The St. Edward’s Crown was used for King Charles.
Nicholas Lyons, Lord Mayor of the City of London carries the St Edward’s Crown during the coronation.
Gareth Cattermole
St. Edward’s Crown, the crown historically used at the moment of coronation, was made for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661. The crown has a velvet cap with an ermine band and the frame is made of solid gold set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines.
King Charles III is crowned with St Edward’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during his coronation ceremony.
Aaron Chown / Getty Images
Reverend Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, crowed King Charles III during the coronation ceremony.
King Charles III after being crowned with St Edward’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during his coronation ceremony.
Aaron Chown / Getty Images
Prince William kissed his father and he pledged loyalty to him during the coronation.
Prince William, Prince of Wales kisses his father, King Charles III, wearing St Edward’s Crown, during the coronation ceremony.
Yui Mok / Getty Images
Following the ceremony, the royal family set out in a procession back to Buckingham Palace.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla traveling in the Gold State Coach sets off from Westminster Abbey on route to Buckingham Palace.
/ Getty Images
King Charles and Queen Camilla departed in the Gold State Coach, which was built in 1760 and used at every coronation since that of William IV in 1831.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave from the Buckingham Palace balcony following their coronation.
Getty Images
King Charles and Queen Camilla waved from the Buckingham Palace balcony in a symbolic moment with members of the royal family gathered alongside them.
King Charles III, wearing the Imperial State Crown, and Queen Camilla, wearing a modified version of Queen Mary’s Crown, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their coronation.
/ Getty Images
Left to right: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor; Sir Timothy Laurence; Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh; Princess Charlotte of Wales; Princess Anne, Princess Royal; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Prince Louis of Wales; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; Prince George of Wales; King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the coronation.
/ Getty Images
Thousands of people lined the Mall outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate King Charles’ coronation.
Members of the public along The Mall following the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
Louis and his older sister, Princess Charlotte, smiled and waved at the crowds. According to the Daily Telegraph, it appeared that Louis said “I’m waving” as he arrived in the state car.
Louis then took his seat between his mother and his sister. According to ITV, he was expected to “retire” given that the service was two hours long. He was absent briefly before being spotted again as King Charles and Queen Camilla were walking out of the ceremony.
Prince Louis yawns during the coronation ceremony for his grandfather, King Charles III. Louis is sitting with his parents, Prince William, Prince of Wales and Princess Charlotte, and his sister, Princess Charlotte.
Yui Mok/Getty
After the coronation, Louis rode in a coach with his family from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte depart from the coronation.
/ Getty Images
His grandfather, King Charles, was 4 years old during his mother’s coronation and only attended part of it due to his young age — even though he was next in line for the throne at the time. In photos from the balcony, he could be seen looking bored. Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, who was 2 at the time, did not attend.
Louis, who is currently fourth in line for the throne, has stolen the show before at royal ceremonies. During Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee last year, he was spotted dancing and waving, and memorably covering his ears during the flyover from the balcony. William and Catherine cheekily tweeted after the ceremony “we all had an incredible time … even Louis.”
Where were William and Kate’s other children for the ceremony?
William and Catherine’s oldest child, 9-year-old Prince George, served as Page of Honor during the ceremony and was not seated with his family. Princess Charlotte, who turned 8 this week, walked in with Louis and sat with her parents during the ceremony.
Prince George of Wales served as a Page of Honour during the coronation of his grandfather, Britain’s King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6, 2023.
GARETH CATTERMOLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Where were Charles’ other grandchildren?
Charles’ other grandchildren, Prince Harry’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who are 4 and 1, are not attending the ceremony. Neither is their mother, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Who were the other children at the coronation?
Camilla’s grandsons, Gus Lopes, Louis Lopes and Freddy Parker Bowles, who are all 13, served as Pages of Honor for Camilla. Her great-nephew, Arthur Eliot, also served as Page of Honor.
More than 2,000 guests from around the world are expected to attend the coronation, which will be held at Westminster Abbey at 6 a.m. ET (11 a.m. local time in London).
Before the service, Charles and his wife, Camilla, will participate in the King’s Procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Following the service, the king and queen will greet crowds from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
How to watch King Charles’ coronation on TV and streaming
What: The coronation of King Charles III
Date: Saturday, May 6, 2023
CBS coverage begins: 5 a.m. ET
Location: Westminster Abbey, London
Follow: Live updates on CBSNews.com
What time will the coronation be televised in the U.S.?
CBS News coverage begins at 5 a.m. ET. The King’s Procession will start at 5:20 a.m. ET ahead of the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, which will begin at 6 a.m. ET.
“CBS Saturday Morning” co-hosts Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Jeff Glor will anchor live coverage from London across all CBS News platforms starting at 5 a.m. ET. A team will join them in London, including CBS News foreign correspondents Holly Williams, Mark Phillips, Imtiaz Tyab and Chris Livesay, along with royal experts Tina Brown, Julian Payne and Wesley Kerr.
How long will the coronation last?
The coronation is expected to be about two hours. After the ceremony, the king and queen will climb into the Gold State Coach, a gilded, horse-drawn carriage that is more than 200 years old, for another procession back to Buckingham Palace. The procession will retrace the same route as the one earlier in the day and last about 30 minutes.
Charles and Camilla will then receive a royal salute from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Armed Forces in the Buckingham Palace gardens.
At around 9:15 a.m. ET (2:15 p.m. in Britain), members of the royal family will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past of military planes and helicopters belonging to the British army, navy and air force.
London — King Charles III, along with his son and heir William and his wife Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, made an unexpected stop to greet supporters outside Buckingham Palace on Friday afternoon, just a day before the monarch’s coronation ceremony.
Royals fans gathered along The Mall, a broad, tree-lined avenue that leads straight to the front gate of Buckingham Palace, pushed toward fences as they caught sight of the king’s Bentley State Limousine rolling toward the palace.
To their delight, the car convoy stopped and the king and the prince and princess stepped out and walked toward the fence.
Britain’s King Charles III greets well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace, in London, May 5, 2023, a day before his coronation at Westminster Abbey.
Toby Melville/AP
People have been camped out for several nights already to reserve prime viewing spots along The Mall, which makes up about half of the route the coronation processions will take on Saturday as the king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla are carried to and from Westminster Abbey.
The crowd reacted with shock when the royals emerged from their vehicles, with some chanting, “God save the King,” and “hip, hip hooray!”
The king and the Prince and Princess of Wales worked opposite sides of The Mall, greeting people from all over the world, including from as far away as the United States and Thailand.
William, the Prince of Wales, meets well-wishers during a walkabout on The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, May 5, 2023, the day before his father King Charles III’s coronation ceremony.
Toby Melville/Pool/Getty
Two women who actually got to exchange a few words with the monarch after spending two nights camped out on The Mall told CBS News it was a “truly wonderful” experience.
“I said to him, ‘Congratulations for tomorrow,’ and he turned to us and shook our hand,” said Joan, who didn’t wish to share her full name.
“He asked if anybody overnighted, and my hair is sticking up, and I said, ‘Yes!’ And he leaned over and shook my hand.”
The royals’ security detail urged onlookers to put down their phones to enjoy the moment, according to the BBC.
London — Prince William and his wife Kate visited a London pub Thursday, and the Prince of Wales stepped behind the bar to pull a pint of “Kingmaker” ale two days before his father King Charles III’s coronation ceremony. The Prince and Princess of Wales dropped into the Dog and Duck in central London’s Soho entertainment district to chat to representatives from the hospitality industry, which is set for a bumper weekend thanks to the coronation on Saturday.
William, the heir to the throne, pulled the first-ever pint of Kingmaker, a pale ale brewed to celebrate the coronation.
Britain’s Prince William pulls the first pint of Kingmaker, a new brew celebrating the coronation of King Charles III, as he and the Princess of Wales visit the Dog & Duck pub in London, May 4, 2023, to hear how it’s preparing for the coronation.
Jamie Lorriman/AP
“You always have the best conversations in pubs you never know who you are going to meet,” he said.
The 40-year-old prince was handed a full cider glass, joking that he would have to mind how much he drank and “get back into work mode.”
Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, visit the Dog & Duck pub in London, May 4, 2023, to hear how it’s preparing for the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen Consort.
Jamie Lorriman/AP
Kate, meanwhile, said excitement for the coronation was “already starting to build,” and that their eldest child Prince George was “excited” about the ceremony after taking part in rehearsals.
George, aged nine, is second in line to the throne. On Saturday he will be one of eight Pages of Honor during the service, joining a procession through the nave of Westminster Abbey and assisting with holding the king’s ornate Coronation Vestments, or ceremonial robes.
William and Kate chatted with well-wishers outside the pub, shaking hands with members of the crowd.
Prince William speaks to members of the public during a walkabout outside the Dog and Duck pub in Soho, central London, two days before the coronation of his father, King Charles III, May 4, 2023.
Jamie Lorriman – WPA Pool/Getty
The Dog and Duck, originally built in 1734, is one of the oldest pubs in Soho.
To get there, the couple took their first ride on the Elizabeth Line, the new rail line running beneath the British capital that was named after William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September last year after a record 70 years on the throne.
Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, travel on the London Underground’s Elizabeth Line in central London, May 4, 2023, on their way to visit the Dog & Duck pub in Soho.
Jordan Pettitt/AP
They rode three stops, chatting to transport workers about plans for the weekend, when tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on the city. Some hardy souls were camped out along The Mall, on the coronation procession route directly in front of Buckingham Palace, days ahead of the event.
When asked about the coronation preparations, Kate replied: “Yes, it’s going to be a busy time. We’re getting there. I still feel like we’re trying to get ducks in a row.”
William, like his son George, will have an active role in the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The heir will help his father to don the Golden Imperial Mantle — a floor-length cloak made of cloth of gold that dates back to 1821.
