The sensibly trimmed guest list – 2300, down from the 8000 who attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 – also includes foreign royals, such as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II, Crown Prince Frederik and Australian-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco and the Sultan of Brunei. Mostly that means the grace-and-favour second tier royals, including Prince Andrew (but no Fergie), Prince Harry (but no Meghan), the Gloucesters, the Kents, Princess Margaret’s family, and the last of the true blue-blooded old guard, Elizabeth’s cousin Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Mrs Ogilvy.

You can add to that the greatest gathering of the who-used-to-be-who and the what’s left of Debrett’s Peerage the British aristocracy since. Credit: GettyĪll the security makes sense when you consider who is on the guest list: foreign heads of government, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, heads of state, crowned (and uncrowned) heads of the royal houses of Europe, US first lady Jill Biden and a splash of more run-of-the-mill celebrities such as singer Lionel Richie, David and Victoria Beckham and even Bear Grylls, in his capacity as Chief Scout.

Six of the eight Windsor Grey horses which will pull the Gold State Coach in Hyde Park, central London, during a rehearsal for the coronation.

The Day of the Dinosaurs by Eve Bunting