Here's Why Kate Middleton's Coronation Ceremony Will Be Low-Key When She Becomes Queen Consort

It's hard to imagine Britain with any monarch other than Queen Elizabeth II (opens in new tab). Her Majesty has reigned for 65 years—the longest reign of any monarch in British history. But, some day Prince Charles will inherit the throne and, after him, it will be Prince William's (opens in new tab) turn.

As anyone who has seen the first season of The Crown (opens in new tab) knows, royal coronations are a whole thing. When the day comes for Will to step up and become King, he'll be celebrated with a huge, elaborate coronation ceremony. When William becomes King, his wife, Kate Middleton (opens in new tab), will become Queen Consort. She'll also have a coronation ceremony, but hers will be much, much more low-key.

The reason? That's just how the royals do things, apparently. According to the royal family's official website (opens in new tab), "Unless decided otherwise, a Queen consort is crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony."

This does mean, of course, that William and co. could decide to honor Kate with a huge ceremony of her own. But they could also just...not. It's not like this would be likely to upset Kate (opens in new tab) either way.

First of all, she's known (opens in new tab) for being a very down-to-earth, low-key person in general (opens in new tab), so she might not even want all the pomp and circumstance of a huge coronation anyway. And, even if that's a thing she's secretly dying to experience, the royal family's stance on the whole situation is pretty clear, so at the very least she's been prepared for her "similar but simpler" ceremony for years now.