While protestors failed to overshadow the coronation, someone else did manage to steal the limelight. Penny Mordaunt, former Conservative leadership hopeful and Lord President of the Council, emerged victorious from today’s service. It was Mordaunt, not the King, who captured the imagination of some viewers at home and abroad. Arriving at Westminster Abbey in a bespoke teal dress, cape and headband by the designer Safiyaa, Ms Mordaunt immediately caught the attention of social media in much the same way as Pippa Middleton at Kate and Will’s wedding over a decade ago.
Scene stealing, however, takes more than an outfit. Though already being lauded as a pitch-perfect ensemble (the colour ‘Poseidon’, a nod to her Portsmouth constituency and stunning gold fern embroidery a reference to the uniform of the Privy Council) it was Mordaunt’s frankly iconic wielding of the ceremonial Jewelled Sword of Offering that has truly impressed.
Blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and presented to the King, before being carried perfectly upright for the remainder of the two-hour ceremony, the sword was made for the coronation of George IV in 1821 and it is heavy.
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