Camilla’s Coronation companions! Queen will be joined by sister and Lady Lansdowne during service

Queen Camilla will be joined by her sister Annabel Elliot and her close friend Lady Lansdowne at the coronation service next month, it has been revealed.

The 75-year-old royal family last September scrapped the age-old tradition of having ladies-in-waiting as part of its retinue – opting instead for a smaller number of “Queen’s companions.”

In addition to eight Pages of Honour, the Queen’s ‘companions’ Mrs Elliot, 74, and Lady Lansdowne, 68, will be attending Their Majesties as part of the coronation service.

In the historic ceremony, Camilla will be crowned with the Queen Mary’s Crown and will have her two confidants by her side the entire time, a source told MailOnline.

Earlier this month, Lady Lansdowne spoke out against Prince Harry after labeling his stepmother as ‘dangerous’ and ‘bad guy’ in his bombshell biography Spare.

Queen Camilla pictured with her close friend Lady Fiona Lansdowne at Bowood House in July 2002

In an interview with The Sunday timesFiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, said Prince Harry’s comments had “hurt” the Queen.

She said, ‘Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesn’t let it get to her.

“Her philosophy has always been, ‘Make nothing of it and it will settle down – to say the least, the quickest to recover.'”

Lady Lansdowne has been a longtime friend of the Queen and supported her in the 1990s when details of her relationship with Charles emerged.

Last month, King Charles and Queen Camilla also joined her sister Annabel at her husband Simon’s funeral.

The businessman was married to Annabel for more than 50 years and died in March at the age of 82.

Camilla, 75, was known to be close to the businessman, whom Annabel married in 1972 at the age of 23 – and the couple even joined the royal family on their honeymoon to Charles in 2005.

In addition, at the time of her death, the late Queen had about seven devoted ladies-in-waiting—affectionately known as the Head Maids—some of whom had been by her side for more than 60 years.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in front of 2,000 guests

They handled everything from public and private correspondence and organizing the royal diary to accompanying the monarch on engagements, collecting flowers and arranging private family events.

They were also loyal companions to the monarch and acted as her eyes and ears in the palace.

The scrolls were unpaid and the holders were almost always chosen from the upper echelons of the aristocracy, as few are wealthy enough to afford to take up such a demanding position simply out of loyalty to the Crown .

But with most of the existing holders of the positions due to retire, Camilla has decided to organize things “a little differently.”

A source previously told the Daily Mail: ‘When she got married and set up her own office for the first time, she got two brilliant private secretaries, Amanda Macmanus and Joy Camm.

“But they were very much ‘two for the price of one’. They not only arranged all her appointments and projects, but also acted as ladies-in-waiting when necessary, accompanied her on official duties, collected bouquets of flowers and the like.

The late Queen (pictured in April 2022) had seven devoted ladies-in-waiting at the time of her death in September 2022

“No one is standing in her office on ceremony, everyone is dripping in it. The feeling is that while things have changed dramatically in many ways, she won’t be taking on an official line of ladies-in-waiting.”

Camilla currently has two loyal and highly skilled female private secretaries, Sophie Densham, and her deputy, Belinda Kim.

In addition to organizing Camilla’s agenda and public appointments, they already accompany her on official visits and will continue to do the same at Buckingham Palace, sources say.

Before the coronation on May 6, King Charles will host three garden parties in royal palaces to celebrate the coronation.

Thousands of guests will gather on the lawns of Buckingham Palace on May 3, three days before the historic ceremony at Westminster Abbey, and again on May 9.

Another garden party will be held at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on 4th July during Holyrood Week.