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King Charles to host palace reception on eve of coronation© Samir Hussein/WireImage

King Charles to host reception at Buckingham Palace on eve of coronation

Queen Maxima’s eldest daughter will be attending the event


APRIL 20, 2023 12:26 PM EDT

The night before  King Charles III  is crowned at Westminster Abbey, the monarch will reportedly host a reception at Buckingham Palace.  The Daily Mail  reported on April 19 that more than 1,000 guests are expected to attend the reception on Friday, May 5, along with senior members of the royal family.

“It will feel rather like the annual Diplomatic reception held every December at Buckingham Palace as opposed to a state banquet, and will be a nice mix of majesty, family and friends,” a source told The Daily Mail.

Another source said, “It will basically be most of the VIP coronation guests plus all those Their Majesties wanted to invite to the ceremony but couldn’t due to the scaled back numbers at the Abbey.”

The King and Queen will host a reception at Buckingham Palace the night before the coronation© Getty Images
The King and Queen will host a reception at Buckingham Palace the night before the coronation

According to The Daily Mail,  Queen Maxima  and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands will be among the guests at the reception. The Dutch Royal House revealed earlier this week that the couple’s eldest daughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia, and Willem-Alexander’s mother, Princess Beatrix, will attend a reception at Buckingham Palace on the eve of King Charles’ coronation.

The coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, at London’s Westminster Abbey. Buckingham Palace has said that the coronation service will reflect the monarch’s “role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”

Maxima and Willem-Alexander are confirmed to attend the coronation, in addition to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain and Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and his daughter Crown Princess Victoria. On April 12, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles’ son  Prince Harry, who lives in California, will attend the coronation without Meghan Markle . The Duchess of Sussex will stay in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.