Congratulation from
The D’Oyly Carte Foundation
The Board of Trustees of the D’Oyly Carte Foundation extends its sincere felicitations to the House of Windsor on the occasion of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, which will take place on Saturday May 6, 2023.
The Coronation Ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, London, and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Ceremony will see His Majesty King Charles III crowned alongside The Queen Consort.
The Coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.
It should be noted that, technically, His Royal Highness has already been king. In March of 1967, while a student at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, the Prince of Wales performed the role of the Pirate King in a production of Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Generations of English monarchs have cherished the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. However, their greatest enthusiast was Queen Victoria. At command performances by D’Oyly Carte Opera Company at Windsor Castle, Queen Victoria was seen to laugh and tap her toes to the music. Her fond appreciation for Arthur Sullivan was expressed in a knighthood for him in 1883. Twenty-four years later, In 1907, W. S. Gilbert was knighted by Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, known by friends and family as Bertie.
Long Live the King.
Coronation Poem for Charles III
In halls of Cambridge, history shows,
A prince did don a monarch’s clothes.
Sir Gilbert’s lyrics did he sing
And seized the stage as Pirate King.
His voice rang out in rousing song,
Regaling all for hours long.
Swashbuckling style and jaunty flair,
He won the hearts of maidens fair.
They did not know, this prince so bold,
Would take the throne, and story told:
That he was king before his time,
A Pirate King in youth, sublime!
The Pirate King may be a fiction,
But this lad’s skill was true inscription.
He ruled the stage with iron hand,
A monarch on both sea and land.
Now crowned, he looks long back with pride,
When Pirate King, he did preside.
As Pirate King, he ruled with mirth,
As Charles the Third, he’ll prove his worth.
The Gondoliers – 2022
The Mikado – 2016
Meet The Makers: The Mikado
The Pirates of Penzance - 2013
The D'Oyly Carte Foundation
The D'Oyly Carte Foundation is the American affiliate of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust Limited, which supports the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Since 1875, the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company has professionally produced the 14 Savoy operas of Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, and Australia, spreading mirth and merriment to millions.
The D’Oyly Carte Foundation’s mission is to support and promote the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s UK and international touring, to assist regional performance companies, schools, colleges and universities dedicated to the staging of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, and to generally encourage the popular appreciation of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan..
Donate to The D'Oyly Carte Foundation
The D'Oyly Carte Foundation is a Delaware corporation which is registered and approved in the United States as an Internal Revenue Service Code Section 501-3-c, tax exempt, non-profit institution. Contributions to the D’Oyly Carte Foundation are tax deductible for individual and corporate donors.