Secret replica of Coronation stage being built so the King and Queen Consort ... trends now
View
comments
A top-secret operation is under way in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace to reproduce the Coronation stage at Westminster Abbey so that the King and Queen Consort can carry out rehearsals in private.
Builders have started work on an exact replica of the 'Coronation theatre', upon which the couple will be 'throned and crowned' in the ancient ceremony on May 6.
Rehearsals are expected to begin this week, with the King and Queen Consort learning the complex choreography that will be required of them on the day.
The stage is part of a covert operation called Golden Orb, which is designed to ensure that there are no mishaps on the day.
A source said: 'It's a big undertaking. Builders are working on it at the moment. It's going to be an exact replica of the raised stage or 'theatre' which will be built in the Abbey when the King and Queen Consort are crowned.
GETTING READY: Charles and Camilla in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace
King George VI and Elizabeth are crowned in Westminster Abbey May 1937
'There are lots of steps and lots of people taking part. The Queen has chosen her grandchildren to be pages and the King will choose four young people from his side to act as his pages.
'These youngsters, along with all the bishops, the Archbishop and everybody involved, will need to rehearse away from the public eye and this seemed like the perfect way to go about it.
'It also means that the Abbey won't have to shut to the public for the rehearsals so they can continue to earn the revenue from visitors and not disrupt everyone else's plans.'
Nearer to the Coronation date, the builders will construct a stage with the same proportions inside Westminster Abbey.
The raised platform – similar to that used by the late Queen in June 1953 – is designed so that those within the Abbey can see the ancient ceremony.
It is on this dias or 'Coronation Theatre' that the King and Queen Consort will be throned and crowned with the world watching on.
The ceremony will mirror the double Coronation in May 1937 of the late Queen's parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, where both were crowned
