The King and Queen have returned back to normal duties after their 6 May Coronation at Westminster Abbey. On Wednesday morning, they held their first formal joint engagement since the historic ceremony with a visit to Covent Garden. 

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at Covent Garden to meet with community members, before visiting St. Paul’s Church, and to meeting with performers who took part in the Coronation Concert. 

The King and Queen are starting their day with a visit to St. Paul’s Church. The Covent Garden church, also known as the Actors’ Church, is celebrating its 390th anniversary. English architect Inigo Jones designed the church for the 4th Earl of Bedford. Jones worked the Royal Family throughout his career as well, designing the surviving Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Queen’s House, Greenwich. 

The church has long since had a close association with the theatre. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane was established in 1662 and the church quickly began to serve those who perform and worked in the theatre; in the same year, diarist Samuel Pepys saw the first Punch and Judy show performed in the Actors’ Church portico. 

The Queen spent time meeting with the church’s support group, Drama for Healing. Established in 2019, the group works to help women who have experienced domestic abuse. Her Majesty has long supported charities that work to help domestic violence survivors. 

They then met with stallholders and communities in the Market itself.

Their Majesties finished their engagements by visiting the Royal Opera House to meet with Royal Ballet, Royal Opera, Royal Opera House orchestra members, and students from the Royal Ballet School to thank them for their performance at the Coronation Concert. 

The Royal Ballet and Royal Opera worked with the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art, and the Royal Shakespeare Company to perform “Somewhere” from West Side Story at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.