PRINCE WILLIAM TIPPED TO TAKE ON CORONATION ROLE PRINCE HARRY MAY BE BARRED FROM
As the son and heir of King Charles, Prince William has been tipped to play an active role during the Coronation of the monarch. However, Dr George Gross, visiting research fellow in Theology at King's College London, noted there isn't a set role in the traditional Coronation service that a Prince of Wales needs to carry out.
The expert told Express.co.uk: "There's no formal role for the Prince of Wales, as there may have been a time where there was no Prince of Wales, as plenty of monarchs have been crowned without even being married and certainly without having children."
However, Dr Gross believes that, in light of a report claiming King Charles has decided to ditch the requirement for royal dukes to kneel before him and pay homage during the ceremony, William may be asked to perform this tradition alone.
He said: "It was reported the homage by the dukes won't happen or will happen differently.
"And I think it's likely Prince William may well, as Prince of Wales, be the one person doing the homage, representing that part of the service."
Prince Harry has been urged to explain how he was able to enter the United States and obtain a visa despite admitting to taking drugs such as cocaine, magic mushrooms and cannabis in his memoir Spare and promotional interviews.
The Duke of Sussex, who relocated to California with his wife Meghan Markle and their young family in 2020, has been advised that he should be "totally transparent" over his visa application and how he answered the questions or risk becoming a "political pawn".
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The Sunday Times claimed in January the monarch is making a few changes to the Coronation to befit it to the 21st century.
One such change expected was eliminating the requirement for the monarch's male relatives bearing the title of duke to kneel in front of him and pledge their allegiance.
This would mean the new Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent will not play an active part in the service.
The decision not to have this part of the ceremony performed as it had been done in the past would also avoid giving two non-working royal dukes, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, an active role during the service.
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In 1953, Prince Philip led the way in paying homage to the newly-crowned monarch, followed by the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester.
While Dr Gross thinks it's a possibility the Prince of Wales will echo his late grandfather and take on the role that would have been carried out by several other royals in the past, he doesn't think it likely officials will create a completely new duty for him.
He said: "I can't see there'll be other roles created for William because they won't want to invent something new to extend the length of the service."
The Coronation expert noted organisers of the Coronation have a "balancing act" to perform between keeping key elements of the service and shortening it for modern audiences.
Some of the differences likely to be seen between the upcoming Coronation and the one of Queen Elizabeth II include the number of attendees.
In June 1953, Westminster Abbey was filled to the brim with some 8,000 guests in attendance.
This year, the guest list has been tipped to include only some 2,000 people, with many peers expected not to be among those invited.
Rather, Charles is expected to favour multi-faith leaders, charity representatives and Commonwealth officials.
Dr Gross noted the smaller guest list reflects, among other things, the changed role of peers when compared to 1953.
He added: "We did hear, though, the King is looking to invite foreign royalty, so that's more of a break with tradition."