What King Charles said to Camilla on the Buckingham Palace balcony

King Charles III and Queen Camilla appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 06, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.

(Image credit: Photo by Samir Hussein / Getty)

published 11 May 2023

Safety first!

Apparently, King Charles was very careful not to take unnecessary risks as he and his family stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony following his and Queen Camilla's Coronation.

A lip reader took a stab at what the newly crowned King told his Queen, and it's kind of silly, but we like it.

"I'm not going to get too close [to the front] so the fire service have to [run in and] rescue me," Charles apparently said, according to Elisabeth Taunton in the Mirror.

Elisabeth also claimed that Camilla then told some of the young royals who were near her: "Move... move up, go on, come here, move up," then told them about her gown: "Just drop it."

Alongside the King and Queen on the famed balcony were: Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, with their children Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex; Prince William and Princess Kate, with their children Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; the King's four Pages of Honour, which included Prince George; the Queen's grandsons; and various other senior working royals.

The issue of who got to stand on the balcony following the ceremony proved slightly contentious in the run-up to 6th May, with reports emerging that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wanted to be included alongside the King and Queen and the rest of the family.

However, it was reportedly never on the table for Harry and Meghan to appear on the balcony, since they stepped down as senior working royals in early 2020.

Subsequently, historian Tessa Dunlop claimed that Harry wouldn't "be anywhere near the balcony" at the Coronation.

While Tessa was correct that Harry — who attended the ceremony — wasn't on the balcony, it's been reported that he actually did head over to Buckingham Palace after the Abbey service, though he apparently didn't interact with his family while there. Close enough?

Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

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