The hidden meanings behind King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation invitation design

Hear ye, hear ye, you are all invited to the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on 6 May in Westminster Abbey.

Buckingham Palace has revealed the official invitation sent to 2,000 guests on Tuesday bursting with flowers, colour and significance to the new monarch and his wife, just 70 years after Queen Elizabeth’s invitation was released for her crowning ceremony.

As the first major royal event in seven decades, King Charles welcomed a rebrand of the monarchy choosing to forego some major traditional decisions for the ceremony including the run time of the coronation and the absence of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. 

This ‘rebirth’ in the way of a new reign and new approach can be highlighted by the intricate floral border on the invitation, complete with spring British wildflowers including bluebells, wild strawberries and lily of the valley and a sprig of rosemary to honour remembrance.

The ‘ancient’ folklore Green Man drawn at the bottom of the page completes the symbolism of rebirth as King Charles takes over the throne from his mother the late Queen Elizabeth II.

While the flowers blossom around the main text in bouquets of three showing that King Charles is the third monarch of his name, designer Andrew Jamieson flowed the drawings into Camilla and Charles’ coats of arms with fauna drawings of butterflies, bees and lions.

As we enter springtime, the natural theme of the watercolour illustration pays tribute to King Charles’ many years of environmental campaigning and sustainability, with the Palace choosing to use recycled cards for the base to boot.

Charles and Camilla will receive equal billing at the coronation with the latter marking the transition from Queen Consort to Queen, expressed by the updated version of Camilla’s coat of arms and the single ‘C’ hand-painted in the centre of the invite.

Therefore, just as we see the evenings get lighter, the bluebells start to blossom and the sun start to get warmer, we welcome the new era of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.