King Charles was "bored out of his mind" during rehearsals for his coronation, according to Dame Penny Mordaunt.
The 77-year-old monarch spent weeks preparing for the ceremony ahead of the big day on May 6 2023 and got to the point where he'd "had enough" and "glazed over" but he cheered up when he was visited by his grandson Prince Louis, who was five at the time of this grandfather's coronation.
Mordaunt - who took part in the coronation as part of her former role as Lord President of the Privy Council - lifted the lid on the behind-the-scenes drama during an appearance at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, saying: "We were doing dress rehearsals on the Thursday before, and the King was bored out of his mind.
"He'd just done two weeks of this, and he'd had enough. I was watching him glaze over in the Coronation Chair.
"And then he suddenly sprung to life because beside him was Prince Louis, who had come to visit. They stopped the rehearsal so that he could show Prince Louis all the Crown Jewels. That's a memory that I shall treasure."
During the coronation, Mordaunt carried the Jewelled Sword of Offering - a ceremonial piece dating from the 17th-century which is covered in diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires - before presenting it to the monarch.
She confessed there was a long wait at London's Westminster Abbey before the ceremony started so she ditched her high heels and changed into a pair of slippers.
However, Mordaunt was terrified she would forget to change her shoes before stepping out in front of the TV cameras.
She told the audience at the literary festival: "Before the ceremony kicked off, we were all lined up in the cloisters in Westminster Abbey, ready for when the end of the procession had come through London.
"We would join the end and, as we went up the aisle, then the Royal Family would arrive, timed to perfection. But I was going to have to wait around with this whopping great sword, and I thought, we've got to stand here for a couple of hours before we even go in. I'm not having that.
"I said: 'Well, I'm not putting my heels on.' So I was there in this fabulous demi-couture dress, with these great big fluffy slippers on, with all the Pursuivants of Arms, who had got their robes stuffed with Fruit Pastilles, and I had this nightmare that I was going to forget to put my shoes on."