The 32 godchildren of King Charles hoping for a coronation invitation

A professional mermaid’s husband, an ex-lover of Gwynnie and a descendant of the Iron Duke: The 32 godchildren of King Charles all hoping for an invitation to his coronation

As preparations for King Charles’s Coronation pick up pace, many around the world will be crossing their fingers and hoping for an invite.

While many members of the Royal Family are expected to arrive, there are still question marks over whether others – including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make an appearance.

Outside the Firm, high ranking officials, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and members of other European royal families set to attend.

However, among those also keen to take part in what is set to be one of the most watched events of the year, are the monarch’s 32 godchildren.

We take a look at the group, which includes members of European royalty, teachers and a prefessional mermaid’s husband, who will all be eagerly hoping for an invitation…

1. Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark

Followed his older brother Prince Pavlos into the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and studied International Relations at Brown University, Rhode Island, before working for Fox News in New York. Dated supermodel Elle Macpherson and actress Gwyneth Paltrow before marrying an event planner in a wedding described as ‘Mamma Mia with aristocrats’. Works as a landscape photographer in Athens.

2. Lord Nicholas Windsor

The youngest son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent was the first member of the Royal Family to be born in hospital; the first to be cautioned by police after being caught with cannabis in St James’s Park; and the first to be married at the Vatican. Aged 52, he’s a special-needs teacher and married to a Cambridge classicist with three sons.

Lord Nicholas Windsor, 52, is a special-needs teacher and married to a Cambridge classicist with three sons

3. Edward van Cutsem

Eldest son of the late Hugh van Cutsem, the millionaire pedigree-bloodstock breeder and university friend of Charles, later becoming William’s confidant. A founding partner of Westerly Winds, which helps entrepreneurs build businesses. Married to the daughter of the Duchess of Westminster.

Eldest son of the late Hugh van Cutsem, the millionaire pedigree-bloodstock breeder and university friend of Charles, later becoming William’s confidant

4. Giles Donald

His late father engaged in dormitory pranks with Charles at prep school. The future King chose Giles, now 42 and who set up a wheelchair-hire company, as one of the voices for the TV version of his children’s story The Legend Of Lochnagar.

5. Louisa Mills

Daughter of Rear Admiral John Lippiett, retired Commandant of the Joint Services Command and Staff College, who was friends with Charles in the Royal Navy. Now 45, Louisa is head of business change and delivery practices at Metro Bank.

6. Timothy and Nicholas Knatchbull

Timothy’s life will forever be defined by the murder by an IRA bomb of his grandfather Lord Mountbatten and 14-year-old twin Nicholas while they were fishing off the Irish coast in 1979. Cambridge-graduate Timothy survived the attack and later wrote in his memoir, From A Clear Blue Sky, how the bomb left him ‘with a legacy of mental and emotional wounds that refused to go away’. Now aged 58, he’s a film-maker married to a Montessori teacher.

7. Marina Ogilvy

At the age of 23, the daughter of the Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, became pregnant out of wedlock. It was claimed that Charles sent her a gift inscribed ‘From your disappointed godfather’. Marina married fashion photographer Paul Mowatt just before their daughter Zenouska was born – but the couple split in 1997. She also hit the headlines for posing for a fetish magazine and living on welfare benefits. A talented pianist, Marina, 56, now writes music scores and lives quietly in a cottage in Windsor Great Park.

A talented pianist, Marina, 56, now writes music scores and lives quietly in a cottage in Windsor Great Park

8. Fiona Compton 

Became Charles’s goddaughter after he met her father, Sir John Compton, former Prime Minister of St Lucia, during his stint in the Navy. The 41-year-old, left, is an artist, film-maker and on the board of The World Reimagined Project which explores the impact of the transatlantic trade in the enslavement of Africans. She’s also an ambassador for London’s Notting Hill Carnival.

Fiona Compton became Charles’s goddaughter after he met her father, Sir John Compton, former Prime Minister of St Lucia, during his stint in the Navy

9. Prince Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece and Denmark

The 55-year-old former Royal Scots Dragoon Guard lives in New York where he is an investment consultant and keen yachtsman.

Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece during the gala banquet

10. James, Marquess of Hamilton

Heir to the 5th Duke of Abercorn, the 53-year-old is second cousin of Princess Diana. His late mother was forced to issue a statement denying rumours of an affair with Prince Philip after they were photographed swimming together in the Caribbean. An Old Harrovian, he works on the family estate, Baronscourt Castle in Northern Ireland, and is married to an arts event organiser.

Heir to the 5th Duke of Abercorn, the 53-year-old (left) is second cousin of Princess Diana

11. James Laing

Son of diplomat Stuart Laing, who was High Commissioner to Brunei, and his wife Sibella, who dated Charles at Cambridge. An Old Etonian who got an MA in Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge. He is the diocesan secretary of Llandaff.

12. Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster

Son of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and is a former captain in the Royal Hussars. Works for the non-governmental Transnational Crisis Project. Married to a doctor with two children.

13.  Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark

The second generation of her family to have the King as her godfather. A regular in gossip columns, the 26-year-old model and socialite interned at Dior’s couture department and is dating property developer Peregrine Pearson, son and heir of the 4th Viscount Cowdray, whose family is worth a reputed £224 million.

Princess Maria-Olympia is a regular in gossip columns, the 26-year-old model and socialite interned at Dior’s couture department

14. Tom Parker Bowles

Son of Queen Camilla. The Old Etonian, 48, is a cookery writer and restaurant columnist for The Mail on Sunday.

Son of Queen Camilla. The Old Etonian, 48, is a cookery writer and restaurant columnist for The Mail on Sunday

15. Catherine Cameron

Daughter of the King’s childhood friend and former flame Lady Cecil Kerr. Married to a farmer and has two children.

16. The Honorable Edward Tollemache

Eldest son of brewery heir John Tollemache, 5th Baron Tollemache, and his garden designer wife Alexandra Meynell. Now aged 46, he works as a client relationship director at Wren Investment Office. He and his wife Sophie – who played a naked child in the 1988 movie A Fish Called Wanda – have three children.

17. Charles Tryon, 4th Baron Tryon

The son of Charles’s one-time confidante Dale ‘Kanga’ Harper and her husband Anthony Tyron. Works as an investment manager at Stockbridge Fishery Association.

18. Peter Phillips

Son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. He was the Queen’s oldest grandchild and controversially invited Hello! magazine to cover his wedding to Canadian management consultant Autumn Kelly, with whom he has two children. They split and the director at Gatcombe Park’s Festival of British Eventing is now dating an oil heiress.

Son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. Peter Phillips was the Queen’s oldest grandchild

19. Rose Troughton

Granddaughter of Sir Charles Troughton and daughter of Colman’s Mustard heir Sarah. Married to solicitor Piers Barclay.

20. David Wildenstein

Son of international art dealer Guy Wildenstein and is now vice-president of the family firm. Passionate about fishing and bow-hunting, he is married to jeweller Lucrezia Buccellati and has two children.

BIG FISH: David Wildenstein on one of his sea angling expeditions

21. Nicholas Knatchbull, Lord Brabourne

Named after his IRA bomb victim cousin, the 41-year-old is the son of Penny, the carriage-driving companion of Prince Philip. Heir to the £100 million Mountbatten fortune and was admitted to a drug rehabilitation clinic after his father threatened to disinherit him. Now lives on the family estate Broadlands and married to Ambre Pouzet, a behavioural therapist and professional mermaid.

Pictured: Prince William and Nicholas Knatchbull in 1992

22. India Hicks 

A rather noisy child, India, left, was nicknamed ‘Decibel’ by her grandfather Lord Mountbatten. She now lives in the Bahamas with her husband David Flint Wood, whom she married in 2021 – 26 years after they got together. After she became pregnant with the first of her five children, she wrote to her ‘caring, considerate and involved’ godfather to give him the news. Charles replied with a note which said: ‘Wonderful news. Amazing what the sun and the sand can do for you.’

A rather noisy child, India, was nicknamed ‘Decibel’ by her grandfather Lord Mountbatten

23. Eliza Ferguson

Daughter of Charles’s late polo manager Major Ronald Ferguson and half-sister of the Duchess of York. The 36-year-old is a model and nursery schoolteacher who is married to a private tuition director.

Eliza Ferguson attending the wedding of Princess Eugenie & Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel

24. Alice Lindsay

Tragically, she never met her father Major Hugh Lindsay, an Equerry to the Queen. He was killed in an avalanche in Klosters while skiing with Charles, who narrowly escaped injury and then vowed to take care of his widow Sarah and unborn child. After studying history of art and Italian at university, she is now head of history of art at a private school in London and is engaged to a lawyer.

25. Maharaja Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur

His grandfather befriended Charles after his first visit to India in 1975, sharing a passion for polo. Named on Tatler’s list of eligible bachelors, ‘Pacho’, left, was 13 when he was crowned Maharaja. A graduate of New York University, the 24-year-old modelled for Dolce & Gabbana and is dating French jeweller Claire Deroo. His family is worth an eye-watering £2 billion.

Maharaja Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur’s grandfather befriended Charles after his first visit to India in 1975

26. Galen Crawley

Just six months after Major Lindsay’s death, another of Charles’s skiing friends, art dealer Randall Crawley, was killed in an air crash, leaving his widow pregnant with their son Galen. He is now 34, works as chief commercial officer for the digital addressing network OkHi and lives in Nairobi.

27. Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster

His father was one of the King’s oldest friends and one of Britain’s richest men. Now Hugh is godfather to Prince William’s son, George. Inherited 300 acres of property on the death of his father, and in 2021 appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List, reportedly worth £10 billion.

Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster during the official handover to the nation of the newly built Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) in 2021

28. Jessie Street

Daughter of former lieutenant governor of New South Wales Sir Laurence Street and his ex-air hostess wife. She first met her godfather when she was aged two and now works as a legal officer at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra.

29. Angelica Hicks

Niece of the King’s goddaughter India, the 30-year-old is the youngest member of the Mountbatten clan to have Charles as godparent. Based in New York as an illustrator with a cult following on Instagram.

30. Lord Frederick Wellesley

A descendant of the Iron Duke, the Old Etonian is now company second in command of The Parachute Regiment and engaged to a Royal Engineers bomb disposal expert.

BLACK TIE: Lord Frederick Wellesley (left) at a debs ball in 2016

31. Samuel Chatto

Princess Margaret’s oldest grandson. The 26-year-old Old Etonian is a keen ceramicist: his 100,000 social-media followers enjoy pictures of him at his potter’s wheel in his West Sussex studio.

Samuel Chatto leaveing after attending the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel last year

32. Isabella Soames

Great-granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill and daughter of former Conservative MP Nicholas Soames, a childhood friend of Charles. The 26-year-old has worked on The Andrew Marr Show and is now a podcast producer at Intelligence Squared.

Pictured: Isabella Soames, great grand-daughter of Sir Winston Churchill

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