During an episode of «The Good, the Bad & the Rugby,» Mike Tindall described the irony of his fourth-row seat at King Charles’ coronation. «It was unbelievable to be sat where we were,» he commented on the podcast, per Page Six. «You’re in the hottest spot, but it was all happening just around the corner of wall that you can’t see!»
Even if Tindall had been sitting in the front row like William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales, he would have faced a similar predicament, due to Westminster Abbey’s design. «On a great occasion, the bulk of the congregation cannot see what is happening, and before the age of the microphone, they could not hear much either,» wrote author Richard Jenkyns, per Vanity Fair. Besides tricky sight lines and acoustics, for a large portion of the ceremony, including the crowning, Charles was seated in Edward I’s coronation chair, with the royal family’s seats behind him and to one side. At six feet, nine inches tall, the chair blocks the audience’s view.
Fortunately, Tindall and other guests could take advantage of the TV screens placed inside Westminster Abbey. «Quite frustrating that you couldn’t see around the corner, but you had the TV there, and obviously everything that went on sort of [in the] back and front,» Tindall added. Once Charles was crowned, he was escorted back to his throne chair, offering Tindall and the other guests a clear view.
