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The Prince of Wales, 73, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 74 are both currently isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. It is the second time Charles, who tested positive on Thursday, has caught the virus after he had Covid it in the first few months of the pandemic. Clarence House confirmed yesterday that Camilla has also tested positive, her first time contracting the virus.
Charles met with his mother the Queen two days before his positive test result, but Her Majesty did not show any symptoms, Buckingham Palace said last week.
Charles and Camilla celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne earlier this month ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
The Queen gave her backing to Camilla in her Accession Day message, declaring her wish for her to be known as Queen Consort when Charles becomes King.
The monarch’s gesture provides clarification on the issue after Clarence House previously said Camilla would be known as Princess Consort.
As Her Majesty’s historic reign as the country’s longest-serving monarch is celebrated, questions have been raised over Charles’ accession to the throne.
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A constitutional expert has outlined the Prince’s hopes for a “quicker and less grandiose” coronation than that of the Queen’s in 1953.
Dr Robert Morris from University College London’s Constitution Unit discussed how the heir apparent is likely to be crowned as Sovereign in a simpler ceremony.
He told Express.co.uk: “I imagine that the prince is thinking of having a rather smaller number of people [attending].
“Last time, there were 8,250 people who attended, and Westminster Abby was absolutely chock-a-block with scaffolding, seating and all the rest of it, which reached 11 tiers high in the nave of the Abbey.
“That’s quite an undertaking. I imagine that the prince will look for something rather quicker and in that sense less grandiose.
“One could say that the last coronation was, in a way, the last imperial hoorah.
“Large numbers were attending, large numbers of troops parading and so on after the coronation itself, where the procession took three quarters of an hour to pass any one point on the coordination route.”
Although Charles may wish to opt for a more modern approach to his coronation, most of the existing traditions have essentially remained unchanged for the last 900 years.
The religious ceremony is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury at London’s Westminster Abbey, and is attended by foreign dignitaries, heads of state and other royals.
One of the pledges the Sovereign makes during the ceremony is to maintain the Church of England.
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Although the Queen’s own coronation was traditional in many ways, the monarch also introduced a new element for the occasion.
Hers was the first coronation ceremony to be televised, with BBC cameras installed inside the Abbey.
Debate about whether the coronation should be filmed was part of a lengthy planning process for the ceremony after she was declared Queen in 1952.
Dr Morris said: “There was a gap in 1952 of 16 months before the Queen’s coronation was held in 1953.
“Charles is understood to want that gap to be much shorter and the service rather simpler.
“But it will still be, as I understand it, a coronation like former coronations.
“It will be Eucharistic – that is there will be an act of communion as well within the rite.
“So, these details are not yet apparent, but they will be made clear as the planning process gets underway after the Queen is duly buried.”
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