King Charles sets himself 6pm curfew to avoid too much partying before Coronation

King Charles has set himself a 6pm curfew on the night before his Coronation to prevent him tiring himself out before the ceremony.

The 74-year-old monarch will be crowned in a service at Westminster Abbey on May 6, with foreign dignitaries and other VIPs invited to a series of receptions and parties in London across the weekend.

But The Telegraph understands that the King has informed aides he will not attend any royal duties after 6pm the night before the ceremony to ensure he is well-rested.

“There have been some logistical challenges caused by the King,” said a well-placed source. “He doesn’t want to do anything in the evening in case it tires him out. There will be no partying.”

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the King’s plans, but a royal source said it sounded “quite sensible” to get an early night before the Coronation, noting that he was a “renowned workaholic” and would not be shirking his responsibilities.

Despite the King’s plans to get an early night, he will host a reception for Commonwealth leaders on May 5, and there will be a dinner for world leaders at Buckingham Palace that evening.

There will be no repeat of the Commonwealth banquet held before the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association said that “what was appropriate then will not necessarily be appropriate now”.

The ceremony will be followed by a procession back to Buckingham Palace, where the King and other members of the royal family will appear on the balcony overlooking the Mall. The next day, a Coronation concert will be broadcast live from Windsor Castle by the BBC.

The procession and ceremony will be pared down compared with previous coronations in a move designed to reflect public attitudes and the financial fallout from the Covid pandemic.

Although official invitations have not yet been posted, prospective attendees are understood to have been sent a “save the date” message to ensure they do not make other plans for May 6. Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.

A limited number of tickets to the Coronation itself will be made available to parliamentarians. In response to a question from Lord Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, the Government said tickets for peers will be allocated to different parties and groups within the House of Lords.

Lord Parkinson, an arts minister, said: “There will be other opportunities for peers to be involved with the Coronation, outside of attending the Coronation service, both on the day itself and in the preceding weeks. These opportunities will be allocated on the same basis, with tickets split across all parties and groups.”

MPs from different parties will be invited, alongside members of the Cabinet and other political figures. The guest list is expected to provoke controversy in Westminster, with some politicians excluded to make space for other guests.

Foreign dignitaries will be seated inside the Abbey, with other tickets given to representatives of the King’s charities and around 70 family and personal guests invited by the monarch himself.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.