King Charles and Prince William Team Up for Rare Royal Ceremony at Westminster Abbey
King Charles and Prince William are joining forces for an unusual royal duty. On May 16, the King, 76, and the Prince of Wales, 42, stepped out together to attend the Service for the Order of the Bath at Westminster Abbey in London. The commemoration was extra special as it is the Order’s 300th anniversary year and the Service for the Order of the Bath happens only every four years.
The latest iteration is King Charles’ first Service as sovereign and one with a special spotlight for Prince William. The heir to the throne will be installed as Great Master of the Order during the ceremony, which includes taking an oath and installing five Knights.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was created through the Letters Patent of George I in May 1725 and recognizes the work of military officials and senior civil servants. The Order revives an older tradition tracing back to medieval times. According to that lore, soldiers would prepare to receive their knighthood with a ritualistic bath symbolic of spiritual purification and partake in a vigil the night before receiving their honor.
The Order of the Bath features three classes of members: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross, Knight Commander or Dame Commander and Companion. Women were admitted to the Order of the Bath in 1971 with Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (and the mother of modern working royal Prince Richard) named as the first Dame Grand Cross.
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King Charles last attended the Service of the Order of the Bath in May 2022 as the Prince of Wales, the traditional title for the male heir to the throne and one he bequeathed to Prince William upon his accession to the throne in September 2022.
It’s traditional for the Prince of Wales, as Great Master of the Order of the Bath, to attend its signature service every four years, while the sovereign only goes to every other service, or every eight years. King Charles was installed as Great Master by Queen Elizabeth in 1975 when he was 26 and William follows in his footsteps today.
The father and son both stepped up into elevated royal roles following the Queen’s death in September 2022 at age 96, with a source telling PEOPLE that the transition brought them closer than ever.
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“Talking about the future of the country and their future roles has strengthened their bond,” a source who knows both King Charles and Prince William told PEOPLE then.
The royal family was rocked by two cancer diagnoses announced just a few weeks apart in 2024. Buckingham Palace said that February that King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and Kate Middleton shared that March that she was also undergoing treatment for cancer.
In a remarkably personal interview on the ground in Cape Town, South Africa in November for his 2024 Earthshot Prize, Prince William spoke about the emotional toll of the “brutal” year.
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“It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life,” the Prince of Wales said. “So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult. But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
Princess Kates shared in September that she completed chemotherapy and said in January that she is in remission, while the King’s treatment for cancer continues into this year.
