King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned in a spectacular ceremony at Westminster Abbey attended by 2,300 guests, including foreign royals, dignitaries and even a popstar or two.
The monarch pulled out several incredible events throughout his celebratory weekend, with a lunch and dinner reception on the eve of the coronation, a private lunch on the big day for his closest family and friends and a concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night, which featured top stars such as Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.
Whilst the King and Queen were no doubt showered with love and affection by their VIP guests, they did not receive any gifts.
Speaking exclusively to A Right Royal Podcast on this week’s coronation special episode, royal guest His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco revealed why he wasn’t allowed to give Charles or Camilla a gift.
“Unfortunately, the protocol has not allowed us to bring any formal gifts,” he said. “But I am looking at ways in which to give him a private gift at another time, but officially we are not allowed to give any gifts.”
It’s not surprising that those guests attending did not shower the King and Queen with gifts on their coronation as a policy on the receipt of gifts by the royal family was drawn up in 1995, and updated in 2002, detailing how the family should behave in regards to receiving gifts.
The gift policy, which is available to read in the royal family’s official website, states that “no gifts, including hospitality or services, should be accepted which would, or might appear to, place the Member of The Royal Family under any obligation to the donor.”
It also explains that “before accepting any gift, careful consideration should always be given, wherever practicable, to the donor, the reason for and occasion of the gift and the nature of the gift itself”.
Had Charles or Camilla accepted any gifts, it would not have been their private property as items given to the monarch from another head of state or government automatically become part of the royal collection, an institution set up to manage the country’s royal heritage. Otherwise, they go into storage.
A record is also kept of all the gifts, the policy reads: “Official gifts should be acknowledged wherever possible, recorded and be traceable at all times. The key information that should be kept about each gift is recorded on a ‘Gift Received Form’. Such information should be recorded as soon as possible after receipt of the gift.”
