Just days after setting the date for his coronation, His Majesty King Charles III has begun rehearsals for the big day that will see him and his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, formally crowned.

I can report that the ceremony on 6 May next year will be a very “slimmed down” version of previous such events.

The last coronation, that of the late Queen Elizabeth in June 1953, was an all-day affair with an ancient ceremony conducted in Westminster Abbey in front of an estimated 8,000 guests.

In addition the streets of central London were closed off and lined with people, some in purpose-built grandstands who could catch a glimpse of Her Majesty as she rode to and from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey in the Gold State Coach.

The bill for the 1953 ceremony is estimated to be  more than A$70 million in today’s currency.

But in 2022 in a Britain that is economically and financially stressed, His Majesty is keen to be seen not to be splurging on himself.

As a result, my Buckingham Palace sources tell me that King Charles is insisting that his coronation will be “short, sharp, cheap, green, and COVID-safe”.

I am told that His Majesty has already staged several rehearsals of the very basic ceremony in which he will drive himself and the Queen Consort in his personal electric Jaguar to a fast food outlet just around the corner from Buckingham Palace where the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, will hand them their crowns through a drive-in service window. (main picture)

After that, I am told, the royal couple will head back to the palace with the whole ceremony taking about 15 minutes or less, depending on traffic on the day since His Majesty has insisted that no expensive and disruptive road closures should be imposed.

His Majesty’s plan has been given a mixed reception within the royal family.

I am told by my royal sources that the Prince of Wales is keen on the cut-price coronation.

But his estranged brother His Non-Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex holds a different view and has suggested additional features be added to the coronation.

Despite not being a British realm, Prince Harry is insisting that the UK’s closest European neighbour France be included in the schedule of coronation events.

He has put forward the idea of His Majesty and the Queen Consort making a quick train trip via the Channel Tunnel to Paris where he has arranged for a local driver to take them on a high-speed dash through the French capital and is insisting that the route includes the landmark Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

So far King Charles is resisting his second son’s entreaties and most courtiers are backing his stand.