Mumbai Dabbawalas, Sonam Kapoor And Others: These Indians Will Attend Crowning Ceremony Of King Charles III

King Charles III and The Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned in the royal coronation ceremony in London. Here's the list of Indians who will be attending the grand event.

Coronation ceremony of King Charless ||| and Queen Camilla will have around 2,200 attendees from across the globe.

Source : Getty Images

King Charles III Crowning: Charles Philip will be crowned as the King of the United Kingdom on Saturday, May 6 in a grand royal ceremony, decades after the last crowing procession that took place in 1953. Around 2,200 guests from across the globe will be attending the event at Westminster Abbey where the coronation will take place. The guest list includes royals, the head of state of several nations, some special invitees and others. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar is representing India in the coronation programme.

Notably, the attendees include several people from the Indian community who have been invited to grace the majestic ceremony.

The statement by the palace read, "Buckingham Palace is pleased to announce further details on the ceremonial, celebratory and community events that will take place over the Coronation Weekend between Saturday 6th and Monday 8th May 2023."

"The Service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As previously announced, the Service will reflect the Monarch's role today and look towards the future while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry," read Buckingham Palace's release.

Indians At The Coronation Of King Charles III

Sonam Kapoor 

Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor will be present at the coronation of King Charles III in the UK.  She will attend King Charles III's grand Coronation Concert on May 7 and will introduce Steve Winwood and the special Commonwealth virtual choir. Kapoor will also perform an exclusive spoken word piece at the highly anticipated event. 

 

Mumbai Dabbawalas 

Two Mumbai dabbawalas have been given the invitation to attend the enthronement of King Charles III in the UK. While speaking to ANI, Dabbawalas Spokesperson Vishnu Kaldoke said, “Mumbai Dabbawalas have had good relations with British royalty. Two dabbawalas were invited to his wedding. It was an honour for us. He is about to become the King. So, we want to present King Charles with Puneri Pagadi and a shawl of the Warkari community." 

Mumbai's famed dabbawalas, who run a popular lunchbox delivery system in the city, earlier sent traditional 'Puneri Pagadi' headgear and 'Uparne' stoles as gifts to King Charles III ahead of his coronation ceremony. These gifts hold great significance in Maharashtra's Pune city, where the 'Puneri Pagadi' is considered a symbol of pride and honour. 

  

Sourabh Phadke 

Sourabh Phadke, a Pune-born architect and teacher, is among the attendees at King Charles III's coronation. Phadke has been associated with King Charles' charity and is a graduate of The Prince's Foundation's Building Craft Programme and The Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts. In 2018-19, he was part of a group of students who completed the "live build" of the summerhouse in the walled garden of Hillsborough Castle. 

According to the Qest, Sourabh is a mason and architect, who designs and builds with earth and allied traditional materials, and a schoolteacher, teaching science and social studies to children. He works with communities on aspects of building crafts, sustainable sanitation, appropriate technologies and design. 

Sourabh took part in the Traditional Building Skills Programme, a collaboration run by QEST and the Prince’s Foundation, where he expanded his repertoire by training as a stone mason. He subsequently received an Albukhary Foundation Scholarship to do an MA at the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts where he now works as a tutor, the website added. 

He received an Albukhary Foundation Scholarship to do an MA at the Prince’s Foundation’s School of Traditional Arts, where he now works as a tutor. Having led a nomadic existence in India, travelling from place-to-place teaching and also building schools, Phadke moved to the UK a few years ago when his wife Persis won a scholarship to do a geography PhD at King’s College in London.  

Gulfsha 

Gulfsha, an Indian recipient of The Prince's Trust Global Award in 2022 for her participation in the Get Into program, will also be present at the coronation service. The program was delivered by The Prince's Trust International partner, Magic Bus India Foundation, and Gulfsha completed it after learning about it at college. 

 
Jay Patel 

An Indo-Canadian who successfully completed the Prince's Trust Canada's Youth Employment programme in May 2022, is among the distinguished guests invited to attend the coronation of King Charles III. He has secured a chef's job at the iconic CN Tower in Toronto, the palace said, as reported by NDTV. 

 
Issac Mathai 

Dr. Issac Mathai is a Bengaluru-based doctor and has a long-time relationship with the royal family. Dr Mathai is the Chairman of SOUKYA, an International Holistic Centre at Samethanahalli, near Whitefield. Since 2010, Queen Camilla has often visited the centre for holistic treatment and later in 2019, she was also accompanied by King Charles to the facility. 

While talking to The Hindu, Dr. Mathai said, “For 18 years, both the King and Queen Consort have been consulting me as a holistic consultant. The Queen Consort has visited SOUKYA eight times, and the King came once. They really enjoyed being in India at our centre for treatment.” 

 

Manju Malhi 

According to the Royal Family website, Indian-origin chef, Manju Malhi, is among the British Empire Medal (BEM) winners who are on the royal invitation list for King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Coronation ceremony. 

The description reads that Manju Malhi is a professional chef who acted as the Resident Chef for charity Open Age since 2016. Open Age champions an active life for older people in London, helping those aged 50 or older to sustain their physical and mental fitness, maintain an active lifestyle and develop new interests. Manju turned Open Age’s kitchen into a cookery school and restaurant for members and staff, and offered remote cookery classes during Covid-19.  

The website stated that Manju also leads Open Age’s community Big Local Family Cooking Club. The sessions are fun, interactive and an opportunity for local residents from all backgrounds to come together, make a meal and eat together as community family. 

Malhi works with a senior citizens charity in the UK and was awarded a BEM for services to the community in London during the COVID-19 response