Coronation invites held up by ‘power battle’

A POWER struggle at the heart of government has led to delays in sending out invitations to the Coronation, The Sunday Telegraph has been told.

Key decisions about ceremony arrangements are understood to have been delayed as the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) “wrestle” over control.

“Nobody has really taken any decisions, that’s the joke. And they are running out of time,” said a senior source involved in the planning.

They pointed to the delays in finalising the guest list, with questions remaining over who will make the cut.

“Behind the scenes, nobody is really making decisions – there is so much toing and froing between the Palace and everyone else,” they said.

“DCMS and the Cabinet Office are wrestling over who is in charge – there are lots of things they are trying to put in place but how to agree on it all seems to be the hold up.”

Buckingham Palace is pleading with Westminster Abbey to secure more spaces at the Coronation. Only a small number of politicians and peers are expected to be invited and far fewer members of the aristocracy than the vast numbers that attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.

The recent Cabinet reshuffle – which saw Lucy Frazer installed as Culture Secretary after Michelle Donelan was moved to the new Science, Innovation and Technology department – did not help matters, they said.

Another problem is that the Duke of Norfolk – the highest-ranking duke in the country whose traditional role is to oversee coronation preparations – has been “sidelined”, the source claimed. “He is getting a bit bypassed,” they said.

Last September the 65-year-old peer, who also has the title The Earl Marshal, was banned from driving for six months for using his mobile phone behind the wheel and running a red light. He pleaded guilty to the offence but claimed the loss of his licence would cause “exceptional hardship” because of his role in the coronation.

Royal sources insisted that he continued to fill his “historical ceremonial” role.

A government spokesman said that the claim that power struggles are causing delays are “entirely false”, adding: “The Government is focused on delivering a coronation for the whole nation to enjoy. All departments involved are working closely together, alongside Buckingham Palace, to realise that ambition.”