Prince of Wales plans to cut allegiance pledge from his coronation

THE Prince of Wales is planning for a modern coronation ceremony that will not include a “homage of the people” as his father’s did.

Following the crowning of the King last weekend, it is understood that the Prince has been ruminating about how to keep the ceremony “relevant” when he succeeds his father to the throne. One of the ways in which his ceremony will differ is that it will not include a “homage of the people”, which was the moment during which the public was invited to pledge allegiance to the King.

It was an introduction that proved to be controversial in the King’s ceremony, causing Lambeth Palace to come out in defence of the decision to include an element of the service that allowed “a chorus of millions” to participate.

Now, the Prince of Wales is determined not to repeat the controversial introduction, with a source close to the Prince telling The Sunday Times there is “no way he will go down that route or anything like it”.

A source close to the Prince said he wanted his crowning to “look and feel different” from his father’s, to reflect a monarchy that is able to stay “relevant” with changing times.

In last weekend’s ceremony, he paid an “homage of the blood” to his father, kneeling before him and swearing to be his “liege man of life and limb”.

But the Prince, 40, has since been carefully “reflecting” on the ceremony and the public’s reception of it with his advisors and close friends.

A source close to him told The Times: “He is really thinking, how do we make this coronation feel more relevant in the future?

“He is mindful of the fact that in 20 years’ time, or whenever his time comes, how can the coronation be modern but also unifying to the nation and the Commonwealth? I think his coronation will look and feel quite different.”

The source clarified that courtiers at Kensington Palace were not “coming up with a grand plan” for the heir to the throne’s service, but were simply “reflective” of the first crowning ceremony in Britain in the last 70 years.

It is understood that it is “extremely important” to the Prince that the ceremony “evolves to be relevant”. Another source close to the Prince added: “He’s taking stock, he’s thinking: ‘That was a supreme success and it was because Pa altered things. I’ve got to be cognisant of how that evolution happens in my day.’”

They told The Times: “I don’t think he’ll be taking the filleting knife to it, but he will be checking it is sharp.”

Kensington Palace declined to comment.