King joked about his ‘sausage fingers’ during Coronation rehearsal
The King joked about his “sausage fingers” in new behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals for his Coronation.
He unexpectedly raised a laugh at Westminster Abbey by acknowledging his famously large fingers while watching his elder son fiddling with a small clasp.
As the Prince of Wales tried to work out how to fasten the King’s Royal Stole, the embroidered gold cloth around his neck during the ceremony, he said he would try it again as “it’s quite a small catch”.
“On the day it’s not going to go in, is it,” he said wryly.
The King, approving of his attempts, replied: “You haven’t got sausage fingers like mine.”
The King’s large fingers do occasionally generate attention in photographs.
He has previously poked fun at them himself, writing in a letter to a friend after the birth of Prince William: “I can’t tell you how excited and proud I am. He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine.”
The documentary, due to be broadcast on BBC One on Boxing Day shows the unmistakable affection between the King and Prince of Wales.
In one scene, as they rehearse the all-important moment Prince William was to pledge to be his father’s “liege man of life and limb”, the father and son deliberate over which cheek he is supposed to kiss.
Practising the moment he touches the Crown in homage, the Prince lightened the mood by tickling his father’s cheek, leaving him and the assembled bishops laughing.
First kissing his right cheek, before being told he was supposed to do the left, the Prince strokes his father’s face and tells him: “Your left cheek is better.”
It is one of the most affectionate moments ever captured on camera between generations of monarchs.
It is also a visual evidence of the unity and warmth between the remaining Royal family, often spoken about by palace sources but rarely seen in formal photographs and engagements.
The Prince of Wales was also filmed looking contemplative as the intricacies of the ceremony were rehearsed.
The Dean of Westminster Dr David Hoyle, who officiated during the Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, told the documentary: “What is it like for him to watch this happen? He has to be aware that there will come a day when he too will be thinking about facing this challenge.”
Charles III: The Coronation Year will be screened on Boxing Day at 6.50pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
