King Charles and Queen Camilla show their funny side in documentary containing exclusive Coronation content
The monarch holds up his robes like wings during a coronation practice run and says: "I can fly", while the Queen deadpans "here we are with all the lads" as her pages hold up the train of her dress.
Saturday 16 December 2023 12:56, UK
The King and Queen have been filmed showing their sense of humour in a documentary tracing the first year of King Charles's reign.
In behind-the-scenes footage of the build-up to last year's coronation, the couple are seen laughing and joking during dress rehearsals.
At one point, the King holds up his robes like wings during a practice run in Buckingham Palace and says: "I can fly".
The Queen deadpans "here we are with all the lads" as her pages hold up the train of her dress.
In a preview clip, Prince George is featured during the palace rehearsal, and in a new photograph the Prince of Wales is shown laughing with the King as William practices fitting lavish robes around his father for the ceremony.
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Cameras didn't only capture nervous rehearsals, but also showed the emotion felt by friends and family as the big day approached.
Annabel Elliot, the Queen's younger sister, describes how it was "surreal" watching Camilla and the King carried off in the Gold State Coach after their crowning.
Mrs Elliot said she remembered when she was two "watching the Queen's coronation on a tiny black and white television and there goes this golden coach with my sister in it."
The King is shown laughing and shaking his head when the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby forgets the words to part of the liturgy - the prayers and actions of the coronation service - in a second rehearsal clip filmed at Westminster Abbey.
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Archbishop Welby, who led the coronation ceremony, confesses to the camera in an interview: "I have a memory that is probably about as good as our spaniel's - in other words, zero."
The documentary chronicles some of the major moments from the first year of the King's reign, and includes an interview with the Princess Royal who gives her recollections of those first 12 months and how the monarch and his wife have adapted to their new roles.
In the Buckingham Palace clip, the King and Queen are shown rehearsing their route through Buckingham Palace with their pages of honour.
At one point, when Major Oliver Plunket, the Queen's equerry tells her pages to "be careful of Her Majesty's dress", Camilla asks the boys "You won't tread on my dress?"
A little later as they hold up her train, she says "Here we are with all the lads".
The 90-minute BBC documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, will be shown on Boxing Day.