King Charles hosts Gareth Southgate and Keir Starmer at first ‘dine and sleep’ of reign

The monarch held a dinner party for his guests at his historic castle on Tuesday evening.

England football manager Gareth Southgate and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer were entertained by the King at his first “dine and sleep” evening at Windsor Castle.

Charles, who is almost a month away from his coronation, invited a host of well-known guests to his Berkshire residence for the dinner party on Tuesday.

Buckingham Palace confirmed it was the first “dine and sleep” soiree of the King’s reign.

Charles is following in the footsteps of his mother, the late Queen, who traditionally hosted such events at Windsor around Easter, with guests given a bed in the famous castle for the night.

Among the 23 guests were the author Alexander McCall Smith, the actress Ayesha Dharker and her mother, the poet and filmmaker Imtiaz Dharker.

England boss Southgate was joined by his wife Alison and politician Sir Keir by his wife Lady Starmer.

Southgate is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, the youth charity set up by Charles, and the pair have met a number of times.

Other invitees included Professor of Sikh Studies Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, art historian and museum curator Dame Rosalind Savill, the Norwegian ambassador, the Canadian High Commissioner, the Bishop of Coventry and the Dean of Windsor.

The newly-released invitations for the forthcoming coronation revealed Camilla Parker-Bowles’ new title this week. She was referred to as Queen Consort following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year but will be known as Queen Camilla after the coronation.

The elaborate invitation, which was reportedly sent to 2,000 people, invites guests to attend “The Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III & Queen Camilla – By Command of the King the Earl Marshall is directed to invite…to be present at the Abbey Church of Westminster on 6th day of May 2023.”