After 27,200 days as the heir, Charles Philip Arthur George has now been officially crowned King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Video / AP / Getty / The Royal Family / Jennifer Mortimer / NZ Defence Force
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw’s family and friends were shocked to see him on TV at King Charles’ coronation - as he admits he ‘didn’t really tell anyone back home’ that he’d been invited to the historic event.
“People were probably watching their televisions and thinking, ‘What the hell is he doing there?’” he joked in a new interview with Mail Sport.
He told the outlet that with Aotearoa being part of the Commonwealth, he’d been “lucky enough” to receive the Order of New Zealand in 2016, which earned him a spot representing New Zealand at Charles’ coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon and former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw before attending King Charles III's Coronation in London. Photo / National Party
“A couple of months ago they asked if I’d go along and I thought, ‘You don’t turn down the King’s coronation’. It wasn’t until much later on when they told me I needed to be at a rehearsal on the Thursday. I was there thinking, ‘What do I have to rehearse for?’ It only clicked when I landed,” he shared.
McCaw admitted that he “had to Google what the dress code meant” when he received his invite, which requested that guests wear a morning suit or day dress.
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw enters Westminster Abbey for the King Charles III coronation ceremony. Photo / via BBC.
But he added that it’s easier to shop for clothes now that his days on the rugby pitch are over.
“I thought the chances of me wearing it again are pretty low so I just went out and hired one. An off-the-peg job. It’s a bit easier to get suits now I’ve retired, a bit easier to find the right fit now I’ve lost a bit,” he shares.
Richie McCaw in London for the Coronation of Kings Charles III. Photo / Supplied
“I was quite glad I did get a good suit because everyone else in the procession was in there with their regalia!”
The rugby player turned helicopter pilot said he was “pinching himself” as he witnessed the historic moment in the same room as the King and other international leaders.
“From my upbringing in the middle of New Zealand, my grandfather fought during the war and he always used to talk about the monarchy. They would have been blown away to see me at the crowning of the King a generation later,” he tells the outlet.
“All the heads of state were floating around and I was thinking, ‘That’s the French president, that’s the UK Prime Minister’. All these guys were floating around the room and then there’s me, a bloody rugby player from New Zealand.”
McCaw said he’ll be keeping his coronation invite as well as his copy of the order of service with his name printed on it “for a long time”.
He wasn’t the only former rugby player attending the coronation; Mike Tindall, the husband of Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, was also in the Abbey.
McCaw “thought about waving” at Tindall from his seat but couldn’t quite catch his eye.
“I’m sure I’ll catch up with him again at the World Cup,” he told Mail Sport.
“We haven’t made any bets yet but there’s still time. I’ll see how the All Blacks go in the Rugby Champ first.”
