LONDON – King Charles III received a Rolls-Royce as a coronation gift, an official register has revealed. Buckingham Palace has released records listing the official gifts received by members of the Royal Family from 2020 to 2023. The Rolls Royce Cullinan Series II motor car was given by the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. It is thought to be worth at least £300,000, and will be used on official occasions and not for personal use. Other gifts on the list also included a feather crown from Amazonian Indigenous leaders, two gold Blue Peter badges and a tea set from Smythson of Bond Street. In April 2023, just before his coronation, the King received two gold Blue Peter badges, one each for himself and Camilla. They received the famous badges for their environmental work, support for young people through the Prince’s Trust, now the King’s Trust, and work highlighting the importance of literacy and reading from a young age respectively.
For the coronation itself, alongside the Rolls-Royce, the Bahraini king gave Charles a decorative clock. Meanwhile, former President of the United States Joe Biden gave Charles a leather folder containing printed letters between Elizabeth II and President Dwight Eisenhower inviting him to the United Kingdom, with a photograph of the visit. The list also includes gifts presented to other members of the royal family including the Prince and Princess of Wales and the late Queen Elizabeth II. For her Platinum Jubilee, the late queen was gifted two lamp-posts which stand outside the Houses of Parliament in the form of bronze sculptures of heraldic beasts and a Cedar of Lebanon tree from Pope Francis. Official gifts can be worn and used, but are not considered the royals’ personal property. The royals do not pay tax on them. Gifts cannot be sold or exchanged – though perishable official gifts with a value less than £150 can be given to charity or staff – and eventually become part of the Royal Collection, which is held in trust for successors and the nation. Usually the palace releases records listing the official gifts received by members of the royal family annually, however due to delays caused by the Covid pandemic, death of Elizabeth II and the coronation this is the first time a list has been published in the King’s reign.
