Worthing businessman invited to King's Coronation thought it was a 'wind-up'

Funeral director Peter Kennard, 56 – who was awarded with the British Empire Medal in 2021, in recognition of his fundraising efforts for Guild Care – received an email out of the blue last week, inviting him to attend the Coronation ceremony on Saturday, May 6.

Peter, from H D Tribe Ltd Funeral Directors, said: “I was randomly selected from thousands of British Empire Medal holders. I got an email, and initially you think it’s a wind-up.

“I got a similar email a few years ago when I got the BEM and I recognised the way it was written. It takes a bit of getting your head around. It was a total surprise out of nowhere.”

King Charles III’s coronation will be limited to around 2,000 guests to accommodate health and safety restrictions. This is a huge drop from the 8,000 guests at Queen Elizabeth's ceremony back in 1953.

Peter said it is a huge honour to be chosen, particularly ‘now you hear more about it and how many people can go’.

"I’m guessing they randomly selected from all the people who have had awards,” he said. “I just got lucky.

“I won the medal with [estate agent Derek Steel] so I immediately checked with him and he hadn’t had an invite.

“I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t had the full details yet. The official invite should be in the post fairly soon.”

Peter said the details are a ‘little bit sketchy’, adding: “All I know at the moment, is I’ve got to be in central London for 7am. I’ve been told what the dress code is – morning suits or lounge suits – and I’ve been told to expect to be sat in the Abbey and waiting a while.”

Peter joked that his wife, Samantha, was ‘a bit miffed’ because ‘it’s only an invite for one’.

"The family are really excited for me,” he said. “I don’t know if I will be able to have my phone in there. You don’t want to look like a wally, videoing everything but it would be nice to take one or two pictures.

"I will wait for the official invitation and some instructions on what I can and can’t do.”

Peter and Derek formed D & P Fundraising to support Guild Care and have raised a significant amount of money over the past 20 years, through two annual events, a St George’s Day luncheon and the Not the New Year’s Eve Ball, as well as supporting other events and campaigns, like the annual golf challenge.

They were presented with their medals by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Mrs Susan Pyper, at an award ceremony hosted by Guild Care.

Peter said: “Guild Care nominated us for a British Empire Medal back in 2020. We both got awarded a medal in the New Years’ Honours list in 2021.

"It was fantastic. We went up to the palace for a garden party. We had a good day out in London.

"We didn’t meet any of the Royals as there was about 6,000 people there in the gardens. A select few get handpicked to meet and greet.

"Kate [Middleton, Princess of Wales] and [Prince] Edward, [Duke of Edinburgh] were there.”

Sports presenter and commentator Jim Rosenthal will be hosting the 15th St George’s Day luncheon this Friday (April 21) at the Ardington Hotel in Worthing.

"It’s always a sell-out,” Peter said. “We normally have a sporting celebrity that comes down and entertains us.

"That should be fun. We will have an auction and a raffle. We raised £14,000 last year, which we’ve never done. If we get somewhere near that amount, it will be amazing.

"We are trying to raise as much money as we can.”