King Charles makes huge cuts to Coronation guest list leaving Dukes and Duchesses stunned
King Charles has cut his Coronation guest list with many Dukes and Duchesses excluded from the event
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King Charles has slashed his Coronation guest list with many Dukes and Duchesses excluded from the huge event - leaving some of Britain's most senior aristocrats shocked and dismayed.
It follows the news that only working royals will be on the balcony to watch the flypast over Buckingham Palace, which leaves out Prince Harry and Prince Andrew.
The highly-anticipated guest list for the event is understood to have been drastically cut down to fit in with the streamlined ceremony.
Buckingham palace is yet to confirm the official guestlist for the King's big day, but some of the non-royal dukes who reportedly haven't received an invitation include the Duke of Norfolk, Duke of Rutland and the Duke of Somerset.
Edward Fitzalan-Howard, who is Duke of Norfolk as well as the Earl Marshal, is reportedly not invited
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The "duke" title is the highest-ranking hereditary title out of the five peerages and outranks marquess, earl, viscount and baron.
In another move to drift from tradition, the King has decided to tell peers to scrap their coronation robes and coronets and come dressed in a business suit after they have been worn for more than 500 years.
Most of the 24 non-royal dukes are not exempt from the guestlist slashing, despite the fact the most senior peer in Britain, the Duke of Norfolk, is orchestrating every detail of the Coronation in his role as Earl Marshal.
The Duke of Rutland, who lives in one wing of his 365-room family seat, Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, and his wife, Emma, lives in another, is another of the many dismayed and bewildered by their exclusion.
David Manners, the current Duke of Rutland, reportedly does "not really understand" why he's not been invited.
"It has been families like mine that have supported the Royal Family over 1,000 years or thereabouts," he told the Daily Mail.
His own father, Charles, the 10th Duke, attended two coronations, Queen Elizabeth's and her father, George VI's.
He also claims that John Seymour, the Duke of Somerset was "sprucing up the family state coach" as he awaited an invite after assuming one would be extended since it is "the second oldest dukedom after Norfolk's".
Preparations for the Coronation are underway ahead of the landmark event in three weeks time
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Robin Devereux, 19th Viscount Hereford, who, as premier viscount, might have expected to "pay homage'" on behalf of his fellow viscounts is said to have taken his exclusion in good spirit.
A source told the DailyMail: "He says he's still waiting for his invitation. But he's not upset about it. He knows that this is a new era."
Those working closely with the event suggest that "a good representation of non-royal dukes will be in attendance".