Vicar shares delight after receiving invite to King Charles III's coronation

The Reverend Matthew Price shared his surprise and delight at being invited to King Charles III's coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

Rev. Price shared that he received an email invite weeks ago, but could not be more delighted to have the physical invite. He gushed over the beauty of the invitation during an interview with People from his family home in Gorleston, Norfolk. He admitted that he was "blown away by the beauty of the invitation when it arrived" and called it "stunning."

He said, "The idea of being there in person is just extraordinary — it's a moment in history, something we haven't seen for 70 years!"

Rev. Price has been vicar of Gorleston's Mary Magdalene church since 2018. He was invited after he received the British Empire Medal of honour in 2020 by the Lord Lieutenant for his tireless work in providing help to his community amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He revealed that his church "became a massive food hub, providing food for people who couldn't source food for themselves." He said "at the peak" they were providing over "100 food parcels every week and working with a team of about 100 volunteers."

Prior to the coronation invite, he and his wife were also among the guests at a garden party hosted at Buckingham Palace last summer. Unfortunately, for King Charles III and Queen Camilla's coronation, he would have to go solo because the invite is just for him.

"It feels like the gift that just keeps on giving," he joked and shared that his wife is still very happy for him. He revealed that his community also shares in his happiness.

"Even the post lady was excited when she delivered it, she said, 'I think it's from the King!' as it had the King's monogram in the corner." The locals from his parish have reportedly taken turns to take photos of the invitation to share with their families.

Rev. Price said, "What's amazing is that I live and work in quite a deprived community and the idea that someone from our community is going to be at this event is just extraordinary." He shared his plans to wear his BEM medal on coronation day and that he is looking forward to hearing the music saying, "I've read that there are lots of new pieces that have been composed and at a building like Westminster Abbey, which has extraordinary acoustics, I think the music be amazing."

The reverend also shared his excitement to attend King Charles III's coronation on Twitter along with a photo of his invitation. He wrote, "So this has arrived today. It is extraordinarily beautiful. #excited."

Others took turns congratulating him on getting the invite with one commenting, "Wow how amazing, you must feel very honoured...Congratulations. Have a lovely day." Another wrote, "Congratulations and it is such a beautiful invitation! Seize that day! Will be watching from across the pond!"

Guests to the coronation will reportedly have to be seated in the Abbey by 7:30 a.m. which is three and a half hours before the ceremony begins. Rev. Price said he will stay overnight in London so he would not miss the big day.

King Charles III will officially be crowned the new monarch alongside his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, in a ceremony officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Given the scaled-down nature of the event, there will only be 2,000 guests as opposed to the 8,000 that attended Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on June 2, 1953. Rev. Prince is among the lucky few who got an invitation. Lady Pamela Hicks, who is Prince Philip's first cousin and served as lady-in-waiting to the Queen, was not invited but she understands the situation and is not offended.