Penny Mordaunt: 'I took painkillers to make sure I could get through coronation'

As Lord President of the Council, the MP drew praise for her role in the ceremony to crown King Charles III

Penny Mordaunt walks ahead of King Charles III during the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6. PA

Ms Mordaunt was at the service in her role as Lord President of the Council. PA

She was responsible for bearing the Sword of State and presenting the Sword of Offering to the king. AFP

Ms Mordaunt presents the Sword of State to King Charles. AP

She was dressed in a custom-made teal outfit with a matching cape and headband with gold feather embroidery. AP

It was the first time the role has been carried out by a woman. AP

Ms Mordaunt shelters from the rain outside Westminster Abbey. EPA

Penny Mordaunt said she took painkillers to ensure she could carry the heavy sword of state during the coronation of King Charles III.

As Lord President of the Council, she was responsible for bearing the sword and presenting a jewelled sword of offering to the king – the first time it has been carried and presented by a woman.

Wearing a custom-made teal outfit with a matching cape and headband with gold feather embroidery, she held and carried the pieces for much of the service.

Speaking on Thursday, Ms Mordaunt said she was "just very glad to get through it".

"I really was not in the gym for six months prior to this," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I think you want to make sure you're in good nick and I did take a couple of painkillers before just to make sure I was going to be all right, but we got through it. And it's only half the ceremony I had to carry the sort of state, which is a really heavy one, and then I traded it in for the very exquisite jewel sort of offering."

She said she was focused on the king during the ceremony, and was relieved that it went well and according to plan.

"I wanted the king to be in the right moment and for him to really be still and centred and have the spiritual experience, which he should have in that moment, so it was just a great relief. And then afterward, I reunited with my phone and found that I'd become a meme," she said.

"There were some corkers I mean, this is what I love about our country.

"I think the Poundland branding was an early, early adopted meme. I think I've been obviously holding various things, a kebab."

She said she "was never going" to drop the heavy sword, but did find rehearsals uncomfortable leading up to the ceremony.

Ms Mordaunt said: "If there was a highly emotional time [it] was the Thursday where we ran through it twice, with lots of standing around in between and at the end of that I was quite tired, but having done that, I knew I could do the service."

Writing in The Telegraph, she said she was grateful that people had recognised her role in the event.

“It was a humbling day in every respect," she added. "Crowned heads and world leaders were just faces in the congregation. All came to bear witness to love, service and sacrifice. His Majesty the King served longer than anyone in history as Prince of Wales.

“This is a life lived in the public eye. The royal family sets a parenthesis. We politicians should heed this example. We, too, have a choice. We can decide to narrow the parenthesis. Or we can decide to widen it. It takes courage, patience and judgment to listen to all views.

“If people chose to recognise my role, then I’m grateful. But my gratitude and thanks are reserved for all who took part. You can choose dissent. You can choose duty. The real recognition for Saturday, though, belongs to all of us.”

The Leader of the House of Commons, and former Conservative leadership frontrunner, carried the 17th-century sword of state in procession to the abbey.

Its silver-gilt hilt features the form of a lion and unicorn and the wooden scabbard is covered in red velvet with silver-gilt rose, thistle and fleur-de-lis emblems.

Later in the ceremony, Ms Mordaunt exchanged the sword of state for the jewelled sword of offering and delivered it to the archbishop.

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The second sword was briefly clipped to the king’s coronation sword belt and then after a proclamation by the archbishop, the king stepped forward and offered up the sword.

It was then placed on the altar and redeemed with “redemption money” by Ms Mordaunt.

The sword was later drawn and she carried it in its naked form – without its scabbard – before the king for the rest of the service.

Her performance of the highly visible role in proceedings attracted praise from across the political spectrum.

She wrote that since Saturday, she had been “asked hundreds of times about how I felt about the coronation”.

She said: “The overriding emotion was one of great love. There are a thousand types of love and a thousand ways of showing it. What we saw on Saturday was a form of love. But we’re British, so we prefer the word duty.”

She wrote: “Where we were from on Saturday was diverse. Some protested. Most would disagree with such views.

“Most would also defend their right to express them. That’s what democracy is about. It doesn’t mean unity. It’s about dissent.

“Some think democracies are weak because of this and believe autocracies are somehow doing better. The reverse is true. At times like this, we are reminded of what we all have in common. And that we should cherish one another, and the differences and obligations between us.”