Who’s who among the Royal Pages of Honour?

One of the most charming sights at the Coronation were the eight exquisitely dressed and behaved page boys: four for the King and four for the Queen. Historically, pages were chosen purely for their pedigree; Queen Elizabeth II included the Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent in her retinue.

But in 2023, family comes first, with or without title. So who made the cut?

Prince George, 9

Grandson to the King, second in line to the Throne after his father, like his three fellow pages, the Prince wore a uniform first seen at the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902. It comprised a scarlet tunic, decorated with gold lace trim and blue velvet cuffs, with an open-fronted design. An ivory silk satin waistcoat trimmed in gold braid, wool trousers and boots completed the outfit.

Nicholas Barclay, 13

Nicholas is the son of solicitor Piers Barclay and Rose Troughton, a scion of the Colman mustard dynasty, goddaughter to King Charles as well as a descendant of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He has two sisters, Aurelia and Beatrice.

Rose’s mother is Sarah Troughton, a close friend of the Queen, second cousin to the King, and the first female Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.

Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13

Oliver is in the unusual position of being not just a younger son but also a younger twin, meaning his elder brother Alexander, who will be the one to inherit the family title and become the 8th Marquess of Cholmondeley, as well as the family fortune. The twins also have a younger sister, Lady Iris.

Home is Houghton Hall, Norfolk, with his father, David, a 62-year old former filmmaker, and mother, Rose, 39. The couple are both old friends of the Royal family, and David was a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth between the ages of 14 to 16 in the 1970s. He also served as the Lord Great Chamberlain, in charge of the Palace of Westminster, in 1990 until Elizabeth II's death in September last year.

Ralph Tollemache, 12

Ralph is the son of the Hon Edward and Sophia Tollemache. Edward, a banker, is a godson of King Charles, and Sophia is a friend of Princess Eugenie. The couple have two more children: Theo and Stella.

Edward’s father is Timothy Tollemache, the fifth Baron Tollemache, who with his wife, was friends of the late Queen and Prince Philip. The late Royals stayed with them at the family’s moated home, Helmingham Hall, for 27 consecutive years. 

During one of the Queen’s visits, a chimney caught fire, and was being dealt with by a team of firemen. The Queen was in the Great Hall at the stately home when “to everyone’s astonishment,” two firemen, covered in soot, suddenly emerged from the fireplace. “To this day,” recalled Lord Tollemache recently, “I do not know who was the more surprised  – Her Majesty, suddenly being confronted by two firemen emerging from the chimney, or indeed, the two firemen emerging to be confronted by their Sovereign.” 

Louis Lopes, 13

Wearing a red uniform based on those of the Grenadier Guards, of which the Queen is Colonel-in-Chief, his jacket carried her cypher on their shoulders and gold cuffs, Louis is one of twins, sons of the Queen’s daughter, art curator Laura, and her husband, Harry Lopes, a former model turned eco-entrepreneur. The couple also have a daughter, Eliza, who was a bridesmaid for the Prince and Princess of Wales. As the grandson of Massey Lopes, 2nd Baron Roborough, Harry is in line to one day inherit Gnaton Hall in Devon and Skelpick Estate in the Scottish Highlands.

Freddy Parker Bowles, 13

Dressed like Louis, Freddy is the son of food writer Tom Parker Bowles – godson to the King – and his former wife Sara Buys, a fashion editor. He has an older sister, Lola. Before the Coronation, on "The News Agents" podcast, his father commented that he doubted his son was stressed about the once-in-a-lifetime event.

"I don't think he knows quite how big it's going to be,” Parker Bowles said. "He's a 13-year-old boy who loves football." He's so dedicated to his favourite team, Tottenham Hotspurs, that he wore the team's socks under his trousers.

Gus Lopes, 13

Dressed in uniform reminiscent of the Rifles, of which the Queen is also Colonel-in-Chief, Gus – Louis’s twin – wore a green jacket featuring red Rifles piping, with an historic collar braid on the neck and front, and Her Majesty’s cypher on the shoulder. He was also wearing a black cast under his jacket, having broken an arm in a bike accident while on a recent family holiday.

Arthur Elliot, 10

A grand-nephew to the Queen, Arthur is the son of Ben Elliot, a former co-chairman of the Conservative party and his wife, Mary-Clare Winwood, US-born daughter of the musician Steve Winwood. Ben is the co-founder of Quintessentially Group. The family are recently mourning the passing of Ben’s father, Simon Elliot, the husband of Annabel Elliot, the Queen’s sister.