A friend of King Charles said that the monarch would be horrified by the public pledging allegiance to him. Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, a close friend of King Charles said that the idea was “ill advised” and not something the monarch wanted.
“I can’t think of anything he would find more abhorrent. He’s never wanted to be revered. He’s never wanted anyone to pay homage to him except in mock terms as a joke,” Jonathan Dimbleby said, adding, “He wants, I think, to feel the people will share in the event and I don’t quite know how this might have happened.”
During the coronation, the Archbishop will call upon “all persons of goodwill in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of the other Realms and the Territories to make their homage, in heart and voice, to their undoubted King, defender of all”.
Jonathan Dimbleby said it seems that the idea came from the Archbishop “who is strongly evangelical.”
“I think it was well-intentioned, but rather ill-advised,” Jonathan Dimbleby asserted. Anti-monarchy group Republic called the invitation “an offensive and tone deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt”.
The order of service at the coronation will read, “All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together: All: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.”
It will be followed by the playing of a fanfare.
A spokesman for Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop’s office, said, “The Homage of the People is particularly exciting because that’s brand new.
