King Charles Scheduled His Coronation for Archie's Birthday

(Image credit: Getty)

published 12 October 2022

King Charles III's coronation ceremony will take place on May 6, 2023, which also happens to be his grandson Archie's fourth birthday.

As much as I hope this is simply a coincidence or an oversight, it seems hard to believe that nobody in what I assume is a huge planning team thought to check whether there might be a conflict like this one. And sure, the King is obviously very busy, but also... he's the King, man, he could have literally picked any other day...?

So basically this feels like a deliberate decision, but I'm unclear on what the goal of it might have been—as are many royal fans.

"Did no one check a calendar before they settled on a date? They have a private secretary for this reason," one Twitter user commented.

"So Charles scheduled the coronation on Archie's birthday, huh?" another asked simply.

"Anyway, Harry when’s that memoir dropping," said someone else, implying that Archie's parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are unlikely to be thrilled about this new development.

"I wonder why King Charles chose to hold his coronation on Archie's birthday? Maybe so his grandson could share his special day or he's done this to steal his grandson's 'thunder'. There's no way he wouldn't have been aware of the significance of May 6," mused journalist Lorraine King.

Whatever the motivations behind the choice of this date, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are likely to feel slighted by this decision on their son's behalf. With rumors of them potentially editing and/or delaying their various media projects out of respect for the King and the Royal Family, I can't help but wonder how they will respond to all of this. I'll leave you to hedge your bets.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.