The Queen has spoken of a big hope that she and The King share and which is linked to their Coronation.

Two years after the ceremony that saw them crowned, Queen Camilla returned to Westminster Abbey to help begin a new chapter for the abbey. And she told her hosts that Charles III shares her wish that the two of them will be back in the church for a very special reason in the coming year.

The King Charles III Sacristy project will see a new entrance to Westminster Abbey for visitors and will include new ticketing, security, and welcome facilities- it will replace the current entrance in the north transept. 

The new sacristy is being built in the same place as King Henry III’s Great Sacristy. Henry ordered the sacristy to be built in the mid-thirteenth century for Benedictine monks; they used it to store vestments and other items needed for their daily worship. Notably, it was only rediscovered by a team of archaeologists in 2020. 

Queen Camilla is the Patron of The King Charles III Sacristy and on May 14, she unveiled the foundation stone for the new sacristy. 

After remarking on the improvements since she last saw the area as an archaeological site, Her Majesty said ”“I can’t believe the last time I was here – there’s now a floor – the last time I came here there were quite a lot of skeletons,”

The Queen then shared her hopes for seeing the project completed in 2026, noting ”“I just hope that in 2026 when it’s due to finish, God willing my husband and I will be back here again to open The King Charles III Sacristy.”

The £13m project will be built from English oak, lead, and stone, and it is set to open to visitors by the end of 2026.