Here’s Who’s Attending, Who’s Skipping And Who Never Was Invited

Topline

World leaders and celebrities are expected to attend, though some notable names won’t be in attendance at the slimmed-down ceremony, including President Joe Biden and Meghan Markle (though Prince Harry will be there).

Charles will be crowned in a slimmed-down ceremony on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Jackson – WPA Pool … [+] /Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Charles III will be crowned on May 6 in an extravagant, highly traditional ceremony, though his coronation will have just a quarter of the 8,000 guests his mother, Elizabeth II, welcomed to her 1953 coronation.

Hundreds of invitees are members of the public in recognition of their charity work, leaving less room for British aristocrats and politicians, which reportedly left some feeling snubbed.

The coronation concert, set to be held Sunday, will be even more star-studded, featuring appearances from Katy Perry and Tom Cruise.

Who’s Attending

Much of the Royal Family—including Prince William and Catherine, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne—are expected to attend.
First Lady Jill Biden will attend without the president.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will attend and read a Bible verse at the ceremony.
Former prime ministers Liz Truss and Tony Blair will reportedly attend.
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf and Northern Ireland’s Sinn Féin party leader Michelle O’Neill will attend.
French President Emmanuel Macron will reportedly go to show his “friendship, respect and esteem” for Britain.
Some foreign royals will be among the guests, including Prince Albert of Monaco, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain and Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan.
Other world leaders expected to be in attendance include Polish President Andrzej Duda, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
China and India will be represented by their vice presidents, Han Zheng and Jagdeep Dhankhar, respectively.
Ursula von der Leyen will represent the European Commission at the coronation.
Celebrity invitees include British comedy duo Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (known as Ant & Dec), actress Joanna Lumley, British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and Australian musician Nick Cave.
Just 40 Members of Parliament were initially expected to attend, but 400 additional tickets have reportedly been reserved for MPs to stand in a secluded area of Parliament Square.
Among attendees will be 850 members of the public, including 450 British Empire Medal recipients and 400 people from groups selected by the Royal Family in recognition of service to their communities.

Who Won’t Attend

Meghan Markle and her children will remain home in California.
Joe Biden will not attend, though this keeps with precedent: No sitting U.S. president has ever attended a British coronation.
Countries not invited to send representatives include Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela and Iran.
Some British aristocrats weren’t invited to the slimmed-down ceremony: Lady Pamela Hicks, a bridesmaid and lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth II, was not invited, and neither was Duke of Rutland David Manners, who told the Daily Mail he does “not really understand” why he was passed over.

Who’s Attending The Coronation Concert

Performers include Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Nicole Scherzinger, Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, British pop group Take That, British musician Alexis Ffrench and Welsh singer Sir Bryn Terfel.
Tom Cruise, actress Joan Collins, singer Tom Jones, Bear Grylls and Winnie the Pooh will appear in prerecorded sketches.
Indian actress Sonam Kapoor will perform a spoken-word piece.

Surprising Fact

The Royal Family unveiled the design of the coronation invitations through its Twitter account on April 5 and quickly attracted controversy as the invitations referred to Camilla as “queen,” not “queen consort.” The “consort” title designates a spouse of a monarch who does not have the same political or military powers. A royal source told CNN “queen consort” was initially used in the months following Elizabeth II’s death to distinguish the late queen from Camilla, though NPR reported “queen” is often used to refer to queens consort in royal affairs.