King Charles calls on Princess Anne to ride behind state coach after coronation

Princess Royal will ride on horseback behind the king's gold state coach as it travels down The Mall

King Charles has given his younger sister Princess Anne the prominent role during the day of coronation in recognition of her service. PA

Princess Anne is set to participate in King Charles III’s glittering procession to Buckingham Palace after he has been crowned.

As the newly crowned King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla travel down The Mall, the Princess Royal will ride on horseback behind their gold state coach.

King Charles has given his younger sister the prominent role during the day of coronation in recognition of her service, The Mirror reported.

“He is rewarding the Princess Royal for her loyalty and her unwavering devotion to duty,” the newspaper reported a royal source as saying about the king.

Hundreds of troops will take part in the procession through the streets of the capital, likely to be led by the Household Cavalry’s Life Guards and Blues and Royals.

The coronation coaches — in pictures

The procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace will include armed forces personnel from across the Commonwealth and British overseas territories, and all UK armed forces, the newspaper reported.

Almost half of Britons think King Charles 'performing well'

Nearly half of Britons think the king is performing well as monarch, while the Princess of Wales is the most popular member of the royal family, polls suggest.

In a survey by polling company Ipsos, 49 per cent said King Charles was doing a good job as king, 32 per cent said he is doing neither a good nor bad job, and 9 per cent said he is doing a bad job.

In a separate Ipsos poll, about 57 per cent said they were “satisfied” with the way King Charles is doing his job, a decrease of eight percentage points since May 2022 when the same question was asked of his job as the Prince of Wales.

His son, Prince William, had a higher majority of public confidence, with 62 per cent saying they were satisfied with his job as the Prince of Wales.

Support for the Prince and Princess of Wales was clear, with Kate topping the list of royal family members most liked by the public.

Asked to select from a list which two or three members of the royal family they liked the most, the Princess of Wales was named in 38 per cent of answers.

Prince William followed his wife at 34 per cent, then any of the king’s grandchildren in third place at 27 per cent, and the Princess Royal in fourth at 25 per cent.

The UK prepares for the coronation of King Charles III — in pictures

King Charles received 20 per cent of mentions, putting him in the middle of the ranking.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were among the less popular family members, at 14 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, while Queen Consort Camilla attracted only 10 per cent of mentions by those surveyed.

Around 18 per cent said they liked no member of the royal family.

Ipsos polled more than 4,000 adults in three samples between March 31 and April 11.

Royal Mail reveals new stamps to commemorate king's coronation

Royal Mail is commemorating the coronation with four new stamps, depicting the king being crowned and celebrating the multifaith and biodiversity causes the monarch has made his life’s work.

The set is based on newly commissioned wood engravings by artist Andrew Davidson, and one imagines St Edward’s Crown being lowered on to King Charles’s head by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the moment of coronation.

Royal Mail is also applying for a special postmark to be stamped on letters in honour of the royal occasion.

It will read: “Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla 6 May 2023”, and run from April 28 until May 10.

On “The Coronation” stamp, the scene is printed in regal purple ink and set in front of Westminster Abbey, with fireworks appearing above, as a gun salute is fired and crowds watch the ceremony and celebrate at a street party.

The first-class stamp shows a likeness of the monarch holding the Sceptre with Dove and the Sceptre with Cross and sitting in the Coronation Chair.

The other three stamps are Diversity and Community, The Commonwealth, and Sustainability and Biodiversity.

King Charles has spent decades campaigning over climate change and the environment, is known for his commitment to promoting multifaith tolerance and is Head of the Commonwealth.

The first-class Diversity and Community stamp in blue ink features figures representing Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism and Royal Mail described it as being representative of all faiths and none.

The Coronation Chair — in pictures

The background scene captures both rural and urban Britain and the varied places of worship found around the UK including a church and a mosque.

The £2.20 ($2.74) Commonwealth stamp, in red ink, imagines a Commonwealth meeting, a representation of the Commonwealth Games, some of the flags of the Commonwealth nations, a scene depicting trade and commerce, and a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery.

On the £2.20 Sustainability and Diversity stamp, the ink is green and the engraving shows a beekeeper and a hedge-layer.

The backdrop is a natural landscape showing sustainable farming methods and featuring renewable sources of energy such as hydroelectric power and solar panels.

This is only the third time in history that Royal Mail has issued stamps to mark a coronation.

The previous two occasions were for King George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

“Royal Mail is proud to issue this set of commemorative stamps which celebrate the coronation, and some of the causes which his majesty has championed throughout his many years of public service,” Simon Thompson, Royal Mail chief executive, said.

“This is only the third time we have issued coronation stamps and I am delighted that they mark the start of a new reign and a new chapter in our history.”

The stamps, designed by Atelier Works, are available to view, ahead of general release at the Postal Museum in London from April 28 as part of the exhibition The King’s Stamp.

They are now available to pre-order. A presentation pack including all four stamps is £7.50 and the stamps go on general sale on the coronation day of May 6.