THE WALES WOW FACTOR

Dutiful Wills and dazzling Kate's starring role at the coronation has underlined their place at the very heart of King Charles' slimmed-down monarchy 

- NICI DE WET

IT WAS a day steeped in tradition, grandness and opulence that thrust the new monarch front and centre of the global stage.

Yet the coronation did more than herald in the era of King Charles III and Queen Camilla: it drove home another rather important fact.

A leader is only as good as the people who support him – and the king has in his corner a couple as shiny and valuable as any diamond in the crown placed on his head on 6 May.

The day may have belonged to Charles and the woman he’s loved for so long, but it was hard to tear your eyes away from the Prince and Princess of Wales. They brought the wow factor from the second they stepped from their car onto the rain-soaked streets of London – William regal and handsome in his royal robes, Kate movie-star beautiful and effortlessly elegant.

The world was also treated to a decidedly more grown-up Prince George (9), a seriously adorable Princess Charlotte (8) and a delightfully mischievous Prince Louis (5).

Royal author Phil Dampier dubbed it “the Waleses show” and Kate was the unmistakable star.

“It was the weekend when Kate really looked like a queen-in-waiting,” he says. “It was certainly hard to look elsewhere when she was in view,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams agrees. “Kate and William have undoubtedly earned the soubriquet of the world’s most glamorous royal couple.”  

It was easy to imagine them on the throne one day, another commentator says – watching them at the coronation was like having a sneak peek into the future.

For now, the Waleses’ task is to support Charles in his vision for a slimmed-down monarchy that remains relevant in an ever-changing world. And they have risen to the challenge.