EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Queen Camilla’s grandson breaks his arm and will have to perform duties as a coronation honorary page with a sling
Their path to the throne can hardly be described as conventional – and has certainly been far from smooth. So I trust King Charles and Queen Camilla will find no ill omen in the misfortune that befell one of Camilla’s honorees – an accident that, I can reveal, will force him to perform his duties with one hand at the Coronation on Saturday .
The boy in question is Gus Lopes, the 13-year-old son of Camilla’s daughter Laura and her husband Harry Lopes. Assisted by his twin brother, Louis, and their cousin, Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, Gus will be responsible for holding aloft his grandmother’s coronation robes — which will likely weigh as much as 15 pounds, like Queen Elizabeth’s in 1953 — as she descends the road. aisle in Westminster Abbey.
Gus will have to do this without using his right arm, which is in a sling – just like earlier this week when he and Louis were at Buckingham Palace for rehearsals.
“Gus broke his arm in a bike accident while on vacation,” a family friend tells me. “The plaster has been removed, but he must have it in a sling on the big day.”
Gus Lopes, 12, (right) will have to perform his coronation duties with one hand on Saturday after breaking his arm. He and his twin brother Louis (left) arrive at Buckingham Palace for rehearsals earlier this week
Assisted by his twin brother, Louis, and their cousin, Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, (foreground), Gus will be responsible for holding aloft his grandmother’s coronation robes as she walks down the aisle of Westminster Abbey
Camilla says her grandchildren developed a bond with her husband, King Charles, at a young age. She is pictured with Gus and Louis in 2012
Gus and Louis and their sister Eliza (pictured together last year) were part of the extended family group at Sandringham, Norfolk, over Christmas
While this is far from ideal, Gus takes great comfort in being completely comfortable with his step-grandfather. They bonded when Gus and Louis were very young, as Camilla explained to my colleague Rebecca English six years ago.
“When we’re in Scotland with my husband, he reads them Harry Potter,” said the then Duchess of Cornwall. And he does all the voices, because he’s a brilliant impersonator. They are enchanted. They love it.’
More recently, Gus and Louis and their sister, Eliza, 15 – youngest bridesmaid at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011 – joined the extended family group at Sandringham, Norfolk, over Christmas.
Should Gus seek inspiration to remain steadfast during Saturday’s parade, all he has to think about is the bravery and stoicism of his great-grandfather, Camilla’s father, Bruce Shand, who received two military crosses and was wounded during his wartime career. .
Gus’ grandfather, Brigadier General Andrew Parker Bowles, who commanded the Blues and Royals, will be at the Abbey to cheer him on.