by The king and queen consort each have four pages of honor to support them on coronation day: schoolboys who are friends of the family or close relatives.
Among them, Charles’s eldest nephew, Prince George, the future nine-year-old monarch, stands out, as well as Camilla’s three grandchildren.
The Queen Consort will also have two Ladies in Attendance – her sister Annabel Elliot and her trusted friend the Marchioness of Lansdowne – whose roles will be to support her through elements of the service.
As the procession of the King and Camilla, their regalia, senior clerics and other figures makes its way through the nave and chancel of Westminster Abbey, the pages will hold the robes of some of the principal characters who will take part.
The King’s pages are: his nephew George; Nicholas Barclay, 13, grandson of Sarah Troughton, one of the queen’s companions; Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, aged 13, son of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, also known as director David Rocksavage, and a friend of the Prince of Wales; and Ralph Tollemache, 12.
The Queen’s Pages of Honor will include: her three grandchildren, twins Gus and Louis, aged 13, by daughter Laura Lopes, and 13-year-old Freddy, by son Tom Parker Bowles; and her great-nephew, Arthur Elliot, 10.
Food writer Tom Parker Bowles said of Freddy’s role: “I don’t think he knows how important it will be. I don’t think he has a sense of occasion.
He told The News Agents podcast: “He’s a 13-year-old boy who loves football, a Spurs fan… So, his worries are about the Spurs manager and losing when we’re up and you know, that kind of things…
“There is no reason for our children to be in the press and so we have purposely kept them well away from anything to do with it…
“I think there’s going to be a lot of rehearsal first and he’s doing it with his cousins, his two best friends and another sort of second cousin, my first cousin’s son, so they’ll get to know each other.”
The 12th Duke of Devonshire, aged nine, served as a page at the late Queen’s coronation in 1953 and was charged with leading the retinue of his grandmother, Mary Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and Lady of the Robes.
In an interview with the Sotheby’s website, he said: “My uniform, still at Chatsworth, consisted of a pale yellow frock coat with blue cuffs, lace jabot at the throat, cream breeches, white silk stockings – backed from a garter belt that I was terrified my schoolmates would find out about – black pumps with red heels and silver buckles and a sword at her belt.
It is likely that the eight pages chosen by the king will wear something similar when they perform their duties on the big day.
Interior designer Mrs Elliot, 74, is close to Camilla and has on rare occasions attended royal events with her older brother.
During an ITV documentary screened last year, the couple provided an insight into their childhood when they returned to Hall Place, their grandparents’ former home in Hampshire.
The brothers recalled rolling down hills, catching butterflies in jars, and dressing properly for their strict grandmother.
It emerged in the show that Camilla buried her younger sister’s beloved teddy bear, known as the “Tiddy Bar,” in the park and only confessed decades later.
Mrs. Elliot joked, “I haven’t forgiven it, it still burns today.”
Lady Lansdowne, 68, was named one of Camilla’s six Queen’s Companions in November.
Friends support Camilla in performing official duties.
Lady Lansdowne – an interior designer known professionally as Fiona Shelburne – lives at Bowood House in Wiltshire, near Camilla’s private country house, Raymill, with her husband Charlie, the 9th Marquess.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, she described how Camilla was hurt by the Duke of Sussex’s portrayal of her in his memoir Spare.
“Of course it bothers you, of course it hurts you,” said Lady Lansdowne. “But she doesn’t let herself be caught. Her philosophy is always, ‘Don’t make a thing of it and she’ll fix it—less said, first fixed.’”
