The Congregation at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation Service (UK-01/05/2023)

01 May 2023

The Coronation Service of Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey will be attended by a congregation of more than 2,200 people. Guests attending will include Members of the Royal Family, as well as international representatives from 203 countries, including approximately 100 Heads of State, alongside community and charity champions.

The congregation will include:

Members of the Royal Family
Family members and friends of Their Majesties
Members of Foreign Royal Families
Heads of State and Foreign Ministers
Governors-General and Realm Prime Ministers
Members of the Government, Parliament and Devolved Administrations, including former Prime Ministers
Lord-Lieutenants and Lord Provosts
Representatives from the Church and other faiths
Representatives from the Defence Services, including serving and former Armed Forces personnel
Representatives from The King’s patronages, including The Prince’s Trust and The Prince’s Foundation
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Public Service organisations and the emergency services
Representatives from The Queen Consort’s patronages
Representatives from the Law
Nobel Prize Winners
British Empire Medal recipients
Representatives from the Realms nominated by the High Commissions

In addition to the guests seated in the Abbey, 400 young people representing charitable organisations nominated by The King and The Queen Consort and the UK Government, will have the opportunity to watch the Coronation Service and Processions from inside St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey, by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.

Case studies of patronage attendees:

THE PRINCE’S FOUNDATION

Jay Blades

The Prince’s Foundation ambassador Jay, 53, is best-known as the presenter of hit BBC series The Repair Shop. He is a champion for restoration and recycling and rails against throwaway culture, a philosophy that plays out in his public persona and the recent launch of his Jay & Co. shops that purvey second-hand furniture restored to a high standard.

Jay presented The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit, which was filmed in 2021 and shone the spotlight on the work being done by The Prince’s Foundation to preserve traditional craft skills that are at risk of being lost.

Nicole Christie

Nicole, 27, from East Kilbride, is a graduate of The Prince’s Foundation’s Modern Artisan training programme. Run in collaboration with YOOX Net-a-Porter, the programme is focused on sustainability in fashion and teaches students artisanal handcraft and batch-production skills at Dumfries House.

Since graduating from the course, Nicole has founded her own sustainable fashion line Ellipsis and was named Scottish Fashion Designer of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Association Awards, completing an incredible five-year journey that saw her recover from being told she had two days to live, become a spokesperson on eating disorders, excelling in the Modern Artisan programme and establishing a successful sustainable womenswear brand that has gained worldwide media attention.

Arron Goodfellow

Arron Goodfellow completed a Master’s degree in Engineering at Swansea University and participated in The Prince’s Foundation’s Residential Summer School in 2017.

He graduated as part of the initial cohort of the joint MSc in Sustainable Engineering Management for International Development developed by Swansea University and The Prince’s Foundation then returned to Sierra Leone. Arron has now taken up a role in a start-up solar power company there.

Sourabh Phadke

Sourabh, from near Mumbai in the west of India, is a graduate of both The Prince’s Foundation’s Building Craft Programme and The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts. He was part of the cohort of students who completed the “live build” of the summerhouse at the heart of Hillsborough Castle’s walled garden in 2018-19.

Before arriving to study at Dumfries House, Sourabh, now 37, led a nomadic existence, moving from one community to another to lead education in science and social studies and using his architecture degree and skills in earthbuilding to help communities plan and build housing and school facilities.

Esme Walker

Esme, 31, is originally from Skelmersdale in Lancashire and is one of few professional pargetters in the UK, practising the specialist form of decorative plastering having honed her skills on The Prince’s Foundation’s Building Craft Programme.

A former pupil of Maharishi School in Ormskirk, she went on to study art foundation and gain a Master’s degree in town planning. Now, she guests as a tutor on The Prince’s Foundation’s traditional building skills programmes at Dumfries House and Highgrove Gardens.

Reece Wilkie

Reece, 75, from Cumnock in East Ayrshire, is a long-time member of the Dumfries House Sewing Bee. She graduated with the first of two City and Guilds certificates in September 2021, her first formal qualifications since leaving school at 15. During lockdown, Reece sewed together scrubs for the NHS from recycled materials with her fellow Sewing Bee members.

She was also heavily involved in The Prince’s Foundation’s knitted art installation, a patchwork mosaic made up of over 9,000 handmade squares contributed from all over the world as part of an initiative to ‘get the world knitting’ and highlight the mental and physical benefits that practising the craft can bring. In March 2021, it was draped over the historic bridge at Dumfries House by The King and The Queen Consort.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST AMBASSADORS

Ant and Dec, Goodwill Ambassadors

Award-winning presenters Anthony McPartlin OBE and Declan Donnelly OBE have supported The Prince’s Trust for more than twenty years. In 2016, they fronted a special programme with His Majesty The King, then The Prince of Wales, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the youth charity.

Over the years, Ant and Dec have hosted The Prince’s Trust Awards ten times, and the duo will be taking to the stage again this year to celebrate the young winners as they receive their well-deserved awards.

In 2021, Ant and Dec partnered with The Prince’s Trust to launch their Making it in Media programme. The course, which supports young people who are not in work, education or training, helps develop skills for the media industry and match young people with jobs and training opportunities.

Edward Enninful, Global Ambassador

Edward Enninful took over as Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue in August 2017 and was promoted to European Editorial Director of Vogue in 2020 after holding a number of high-profile roles in the fashion industry.

Enninful has worked with British title i-D where he was named Fashion Director at the age of 19, as well as American magazine, W and has made extensive contributions to American and Italian Vogue.

Born in Ghana 49 years ago, one of six children, Edward was brought to London as a child and grew up in the city’s Ladbroke Grove area. He attended Goldsmith’s, University of London, but left before graduation in order to plunge full-time into a fashion editing career. He has received awards including an OBE for Services to Diversity in the Fashion industry, as well numerous acknowledgements from the fashion and journalism industries for his creative work.

Edward shares his unmatched experience from a global career, with particular interest in The Prince’s Trust’s work in Africa to help guide and support the work of The Prince’s Trust across the world. Edward recently chaired The Prince’s Trust Global Gala in New York City for the second year, raising critical funds to support young people.

Lionel Richie, Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group

Lionel Richie’s music is part of the fabric of pop music and he has achieved the honour of having #1 records for eleven consecutive years. With more than 125 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar®, a Golden Globe®, four Grammy Awards®, the MusicCares Person of the Year in 2016, and is a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017.

He has received the Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Lionel is currently a judge of ABC’s American Idol. The Tuskegee, Alabama native is a true music icon. In Spring of 2019, Lionel was named Global Ambassador and Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince’s Trust for his selfless work helping young people all over the world achieve their dreams and transform their lives.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST

Funmi Sosanya

Funmilola Sosanya, 31, from South-East London had experienced bereavement and unemployment before she came across The Prince’s Trust following a referral by her sister, who saw an Instagram advertisement for the charity’s Health and Social Care programme.

Helping others motivated Funmi and, with support from the charity, she has secured employment as a healthcare assistant and is working towards her ambition of becoming a nurse. The Trust helped Funmi build her confidence, communication, and employability skills.

At the end of the programme, Funmi was successful in getting a job as a Healthcare Assistant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Before reaching out to The Trust, Funmi had lived in Nigeria. She had intentions to start a new life with her husband in the UK, but unfortunately, he lost his battle with cancer on the same day she received her spouse visa to reunite with him.

Despite still grieving, Funmi found the strength to make the move and began volunteering as a way of dealing with bereavement but had never had a full-time job. Funmi said: “Before The Prince’s Trust I couldn’t see a future for myself, but now I’m in a job I love and hoping to attend university to achieve my ambition of becoming a mental health nurse.”

Hassan Alkhawam

Hassan Alkhawam, 24, sought sanctuary in Northern Ireland with his family in 2017 after escaping the conflict in Syria and was supported by The Prince’s Trust to fulfil his dream of studying Software Engineering at university. Before coming to Northern Ireland, Hassan’s father became ill and unable to work, meaning Hassan had to leave full-time education and get a job to support the family. When he arrived, Hassan wanted to fulfil his dream of going to university but needed to take an English language course which he didn’t have money to pay for.

The Prince’s Trust was able to cover the fees and support him as he prepared to return to education and look for work. Through the charity, he also took part in a Get into Retail course with Tesco, a four-week training programme that gives young people the skills, experience and confidence they need for work.

After completing the course, he was offered a job in his local Tesco store and worked throughout the pandemic as a key worker. As well as working part time and studying, Hassan volunteers his time to help others who have experienced similar challenges to him. He is a founding member and voluntary Director of a local social enterprise, NI Hyatt, which helps refugees and migrants in Northern Ireland to create social connections, access learning opportunities and gain recognition for their skills and experience, so they can more easily become integral members of their community.

Hassan said: “The help and encouragement I received was amazing. I’m grateful to The Prince’s Trust for all their support in helping me achieve a better life, not just for me, but for my family.” In 2021, Hassan was awarded The Prince’s Trust Young Achiever Award at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB.

Charlotte Mensah

Charlotte Mensah is an award-winning and globally renowned British/Ghanaian hairstylist, who received a grant from The Prince’s Trust in 1999 which allowed her to setup her own salon, The Hair Lounge, on Portobello Road.

Charlotte is considered one of the beauty industry’s leading stylists on natural, textured and mixed heritage Afro hair. Charlotte has won numerous awards, including British Hairdressing Awards Afro Hairstylist of the Year, and her expertise is constantly in demand in the UK and overseas.

As an industry authority on textured hair, Charlotte consults for numerous global hair care brands and in 2016 launched the industry acclaimed Charlotte Mensah hair care range. Paying homage to her London/Ghanaian upbringing, the British-made brand has been formulated using innovative, organic and sustainable ingredients sourced from around the African continent.

Charlotte continues to give back to the community through The Charlotte Mensah Academy, which gives young people in Ghana the opportunity to learn hair styling skills so they can create and sustain a form of income for themselves and their families.

Charlotte has also set up a charity, L.O.V.E. (Ladies of Visionary Empowerment) aimed at furthering education opportunities for young women in Africa.

Dynamo

World renowned magician, Steven Frayne, also known as Dynamo, kickstarted his career through support, advice and a business start-up loan by The Prince’s Trust.

Steven Frayne grew up on an estate in Bradford and began his journey of becoming a magician at age 11, inspired by his Grandad and the pieces of magic he would share. Having worked on his magic throughout his adolescent years, at age 18 Steven was introduced to The Prince’s Trust through his local youth club, who gave him advice, inspiration, and a small cash loan to help start and build his career.

Steven bought a camera and laptop which enabled him to film his magic tricks, build an online following, leading ultimately to millions of views, globally successful, award-winning TV shows and live tours. Steven says: “The Prince’s Trust gave me the support no one else would and it changed my life – that’s real magic.”

Kelly Jones

Kelly Jones is lead singer of band Stereophonics, best known for tracks including number one single Dakota, Maybe Tomorrow and Have A Nice Day. The band was supported by The Prince’s Trust, before they were signed to a record deal, with a grant that helped them to buy new equipment so they could perform live.

After first forming in a village in Wales, Kelly Jones and his fellow band members knew they needed more equipment to allow their music to be heard beyond their private rehearsals. After receiving the grant that allowed them to purchase speakers for use at live shows, the band credits The Trust as ‘helping them to be heard’.

Shortly after they received this support, they signed a record deal and made their way on the path to fame.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST INTERNATIONAL

Susan Nakusi Ekalale (Kenya)

Susan, a high school graduate, was awarded The Prince’s Trust Global Award in 2021 for her outstanding achievements as part of the Enterprise Challenge programme. Susan, who lives in Turkana County, took part in the Enterprise Challenge which was being delivered by Asante Africa Foundation and this enabled her to start her own business; a food stall which became her family’s main source of income during the pandemic.

Susan is passionate about working with young people to empower them to gain entrepreneurship skills and she wants to share the skills she learnt via Enterprise Challenge with other young people, helping others utilise digital skills to support their personal development. Susan also participates actively in charity work within her local community.

Akeme Magregor Cox (Barbados)

Akeme grew up in Fairy Valley in the South of Barbados, and whilst disengaged from secondary school he got involved in the launch of The Prince’s Trust International’s Team programme in Barbados, seeing it as an opportunity to get involved in something new.

Following his time on the programme, Akeme was inspired to start to look for better opportunities for himself, and following his work placement was offered a full-time employment opportunity. Using the skills he had learnt, Akeme set up his own hot sauce and catering company ‘Paradise Eats’ and was awarded The Prince’s Trust Global Award in 2020.

Outside of his employment, Akeme is a youth mentor for other young people in his local community.

Chigozie Anozie (Nigeria)

Chigozie is a Nigerian and Mechanical Engineering graduate and currently leads the Technical and Engineering Team at Juststandout as well as being a Freelance User Experience Designer. He was part of the Prince’s Trust International Get Into Renewable Energy programme in Nigeria and is now rapidly emerging as a leader in the renewable energy field, promoting and providing climatefriendly solutions to the energy crisis.

Chigozie was nominated as the Regional Winner for the Prince’s Trust 2023 Global Sustainability Award and his primary goal is to make a positive impact in the world. He says: “I just want to add value”.

Sara Arah Abu Al-Wafa (Jordan)

Sara is a 26-year-old graduate from Hashemity University with a degree in genetic engineering. She worked at a hospital for a year as a lab technician and after realising that her role did not align with her desires, she decided to attend the Tariqi programme Prince’s Trust International were running in partnership with the Business Development Centre in Jordan.

As a result of her time on the programme, Sara gained a role working in the insurance sector and currently she is an account manager at GIG (Gulf Insurance Group). Sara is proud to say that she is one of the top achievers in her organisation.

Gulfsha (India)

Gulfsha was awarded The Prince’s Trust Global Award in 2022 in recognition of her exceptional determination and achievements demonstrated through her participation in the Get Into programme in India. Delivered by The Prince’s Trust International partner Magic Bus India Foundation, Gulfsha completed the Get Into programme she had heard about at college.

Learning via an online environment, Gulfsha honed a range of workplace skills and successfully interviewed for her first ever job. She now works for a consultancy firm, providing price estimates for construction projects.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST CANADA

Jay Patel

Jay is a resilient individual who overcame isolation and low confidence after moving from India to Canada in 2021. By completing The Prince’s Trust Canada’s Youth Employment programme in May 2022, Jay gained valuable skills and secured a job as a cook at Toronto’s iconic CN Tower – one of the city’s most famous landmarks. Now on his way to becoming a Chef, Jay is passionate about inspiring others to find the same kind of support network that helped him achieve success.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

Tasmyn Roach

Tasmyn was raised in Ōtorohanga, a small town in the King Country in the Waikato region. She is the young entrepreneur behind Awhi Company – a business that makes Māori designed baby blankets to ensure babies are wrapped in their culture from birth.

The young mother (became a Māmā to her first son Kahika last year) completed The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Workshop in 2022 and was one of the first to be funded with NZD$20,000 from The Prince’s Trust He Kākano Seed Fund. Tasmyn used the funding scale her business and expand into products for the whare (home).

THE PRINCE’S TRUST AUSTRALIA

Tayla Fay

Green-Aldridge Tayla graduated from Prince’s Trust Australia’s Get Into Maritime programme, which trains young First Nations people for fulfilling work on ships. Tayla was a shining star during the 8-week programme. She gained greater confidence and vital new skills and inspired others with her curiosity and commitment to learning. Tayla has never been on a plane before and is excited to visit London to attend The Coronation.

She is the first member of her family to go onto future study. Tayla says “I was hoping to gain new experiences and a job from this programme, and I have been able to get that. This has opened up a career path that I would never have considered before.”