King Charles Reveals He Was So 'Anxious' About His Crown 'Wobbling' at the Coronation He Practiced Wearing It!

Mar. 15, 2025

King Charles with St. Edward’s Crown at his Coronation in May 2023.Photo: JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby places the St Edward’s Crown onto the head of Britain’s King Charles III during the Coronation Ceremony

Even Kings get the “wobbles” on coronation day!

King Charleshas confessed that he was worried his crown might topple off during hisCoronation in May 2023so he practiced wearing itlike his late motherQueen Elizabethso he would be used to its weight.

Charles, 76, made the revelation while speaking to a group of Canadian women late last year as they made an unforgettable trip to the U.K., retracing the steps they’d made to see Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953. The moment was captured in a charming upcoming documentary calledCoronation Girls, which will be shown on PBS in Canada on Dec. 26.

King Chalres talking to some of the Canadian women at Buckingham Palace for the film ‘Coronation Girls’.FeltFilm Inc

King Charles in a still from Coronation Girls

FeltFilm Inc

At the end of their visit last year, in which they commemorated their first visit as teens, the group were taken to tea at Buckingham Palace — and King Charles walked in to the Bow Room to surprise them.

The women had been among 50 girls aged around 17 who had been picked from communities from the length and breadth of Canada to make a trip of a lifetime to watch the late Queen being crowned. On their return, talk at the palace quickly centered on the coronations and the King explained the difference between the heavy 5lb. St. Edward’s Crown and the lighter Imperial State Crown he also wore at the ceremony.

“It’s important to wear it for a certain amount of time because you get used to it then. But the big one that you are crowned with, the St. Edward’s crown … is much heavier and taller,” he told his excited guests. “So there’s always that feeling slightly anxious in case it wobbles.”

King Charles in the Imperial State Crown at Westminster Abbey during his Coronation in May 2023.BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

King Charles III wearing the Imperial state Crown carrying the Sovereign’s Orb and Sceptre leaves Westminster Abbey after the Coronation Ceremonies in central London on May 6, 2023

BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“You have to look really straight ahead.”

Coronation Girlswas shot during the women’s visit last December, before Charles revealed he had cancer in February of this year, and one of the women urged him to come to Canada. “I’m sure I will,” he said before adding a self-deprecating quip, “Don’t worry. I’m sure I will if I’m still alive.”

King Charles during the surprise meeting with the Canadian visitors at Buckingham Palace in Dec. 2023.FeltFilm Inc

King Charles in a still from Coronation Girls

One of the women, Carol Bowyer Shipley, replied, “You’ll be alive. We won’t be.” (Aides say that he does hope to visit the country.)

The women during their trip over from Canada to Britain for the coronation of 1953.FeltFilm Inc

Still from Coronation Girls

It captures the story of how businessman and philanthropist Garfield Weston sponsored the trip, which he hoped would not only give the women a trip of a lifetime but continue to cement relationships between Canada and the U.K.

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Capturing the excitement of the Coronation in 1953, as seen in ‘Coronation Girls’.FeltFilm Inc

Woman taking a photo in a still from Coronation Girls

Some of the Canadian visitors touring Buckingham Palace before their surprise from King Charles in ‘Coronation Girls’.FeltFilm Inc

Still from Coronation Girls

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The film also shows the women, who forged lifelong friendships, seeing St. George’s Chapel in Windsor — where Elizabeth waslaid to restin Sept. 2022 — and historical sites like Coventry Cathedral that they also visited in 1953.

source: people.com