In an upcoming documentary, Coronation Girls, King Charles III reflects on his childhood and the time leading up to his mother’s historic coronation. The film centers around 50 Canadian women who attended the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s coronation at just 17 years old. When 12 of them returned to London in 2023, they attended a surprise tea party with King Charles who shared his own remarks about the day, per the BBC.
According to the current monarch, who was just four years old when his mom took the throne in 1953, he still “vividly” remembers his mom practicing wearing the crown for the ceremony while she was giving him a bath.
“I remember it all so well then because I remember my sister [Princess Anne] and I had bath time in the evening,” he said. “My mama used to come up at bath time wearing the crown to practice.”
And we don’t know what’s most surprising about that statement: The fact that Charles called the late sovereign “mama” (not “your majesty” or “mum?”) or that she wore St. Edward’s Crown (a 17th-century golden masterpiece) in the bathroom during her 4-year-old’s bath time. Was no one worried about the damage his splashing could do?! Or about her dropping it in the tub?
We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that’s the most unrelatable move by a royal mother yet. And while it may sound wildly extravagant and regal, King Charles explained that the practice really is necessary. It’s something he knows firsthand after wearing the same hefty crown during his coronation last year.
“It is very important to wear it for a certain amount of time, because you get used to it then,” he said of the 5 lb crown in the film that premieres on December 26 on WNED PBS in Canada.
“It is much heavier and taller [than other crowns], so there’s always that feeling of feeling slightly anxious, in case it wobbles,” he said. “You have to carry it, you have to look straight ahead.”
For reference, that’s like having to look cool, calm, and collected while balancing a bag of flour or a 2-liter bottle of soda on your head … with the entire world watching. So sure, maybe you test it out while you give the second and third in line to the throne a bath. And then you thank your lucky stars you can change into the much lighter Imperial State Crown to leave Westminster Abbey.