King Charles was 'bored' during Coronation rehearsals until Prince Louis showed up

King Charles was 'bored' during Coronation rehearsals until Prince Louis showed up Former defence secretary Dame Penny Mordaunt has shared behind-the-scenes secrets from the monarch’s Coronation practice, including a sweet moment he shared with his grandson King Charles was reportedly ‘bored out of his mind’ during rehearsals for his Coronation ceremony, before he shared a sweet moment with his grandson Prince Louis. Former defence secretary Dame Penny Mordaunt, who was present at the Coronation practice because of her role as Lord President of the Privy Council, spoke about the historic rehearsals at the Cheltenham Literature Festival over the weekend. Penny, whose role it was to carry the ceremonial Sword of State during the ceremony, said on Saturday that Charles even paused the rehearsals when then five-year-old Prince Louis showed up to show him the Crown Jewels. “We were doing dress rehearsals on the Thursday before, and the King was bored out of his mind. He’d just done two weeks of this, and he’d had enough. I was watching him glaze over in the coronation chair,” Dame Mordaunt told an audience at the Literature Festival. “And then he suddenly sprung to life because beside him was Prince Louis, who had come to visit. They stopped the rehearsal so that he could show Prince Louis all the Crown Jewels. That’s a memory that I shall treasure.” Dame Penny was praised for her role in the historic Coronation ceremony in which she carried the 8lb Sword of State while wearing a dress and cape that featured Greek goddess-style gold-leaf embroidery. Sharing insight into what happened before the ceremony began, Penny explained: “Before the ceremony kicked off, we were all lined up in the cloisters in Westminster Abbey, ready for when the end of the procession had come through London. We would join the end and, as we went up the aisle, then the Royal Family would arrive, timed to perfection. “But I was going to have to wait around with this whopping great sword, and I thought, we’ve got to stand here for a couple of hours before we even go in. I’m not having that.” Dame Mordaunt went on to explain that a member of staff had offered to hold the impressive sword until she had to carry it in the ceremony, but there was still the issue of her standing around for several hours in uncomfortable heels. “I said, ‘Well, I’m not putting my heels on.’ So I was there in this fabulous demi-couture dress, with these great big fluffy slippers on, with all the Pursuivants of Arms, who had got their robes stuffed with Fruit Pastilles, and I had this nightmare that I was going to forget to put my shoes on,” she said. Dame Penny has previously revealed that a member of the Royal Family wrote to her after the Coronation, jokingly accusing her of stealing the show. The letter began: “How kind of the King and Queen to come to your event.” She also previously admitted to taking painkillers before the ceremony began in order to hold the weighty royal weapon. She said: "You want to make sure you are in good nick. I did take a couple of painkillers before just to make sure I was going to be all right. We got through it and it was only half of the ceremony that I had to carry the Sword of State, which is the really heavy one, and then I traded it in for the very exquisite Jewelled Sword of Offering, which is much lighter."