King Charles' coronation will not be a "cut-price" occasion.

The 74-year-old royal took the throne in September following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, but will formally be crowned in an official ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey on 6 May and despite reports the event will be dramatically scaled back, it is now believed that is not the case because the king wants to use it to showcase "UK plc".

According tot he Daily Telegraph newspaper, Buckingham Palace and government aides took note of the global coverage surrounding the queen's death and funeral, with one of the "key learnings" being that it proved to be a great advertisement for Britain.

As a result, although the guest list for the coronation is likely to be much shorter than those who attended the queen's - likely to be 2,000, a quarter of the 8,000 present in 1953 - only elements deemed to be "outdated and cumbersome" will be removed from the ceremony and the event will be a "once-in-a-lifetime" spectacle of "glorious" pageantry “in the best traditions of 1,000 years of history”.

However, the king is "deeply conscious" of the cost of living crisis and wants every penny to be accounted for and justified.

But historian and broadcaster Lord Roberts noted the 1937 coronation took place under the threat of Nazi domination in Europe, while there was still austerity and rationing in place when Elizabeth was coronated.

He said: “They were both occasions when we could remind ourselves of our values and the sense of optimism that saw us through those terrible crises. The Government should be applauded for taking the brave decision to host a much-needed celebration properly next year...

“We feared that after the Queen’s funeral, no one would take any notice of us for some time, but that's not true. In May, we will have the world’s attention upon us.

“The monarchy does exert great soft power and this is the equivalent of an aircraft carrier when it comes to international relations.”