Sydney's Madame Tussauds Unveils Wax Sculpture of King Charles Ahead of Coronation
A wax figure of King Charles III was unveiled at Sydney’s Madame Tussauds on May 3, three days ahead of the monarch’s coronation.
It is the only King Charles III wax figure outside of the United Kingdom, and was created by the Madame Tussauds London studios over nine months, Madame Tussauds said.
Footage released by Madame Tussauds shows the unveiling of the wax monarch, alongside figures of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prince Harry.
“What fun to have attended the royal reveal today. Although I wasn’t invited to the coronation, this had to be the next best thing. The resemblance is startling. I wasn’t sure if I should curtsey when I approached the king’s wax figure,” joked Ron Arosa, a guest attending the unveiling. Credit: Charli Beale/Madame Tussauds via Storyful
Video transcript
MIKAYLA MCGLONE: Hi, I'm Mikayla McGlone. I'm the operations manager at Madame Tussauds Sydney. And here today we're launching King Charles III. So King Charles-- the reason why we have selected him-- he will be the head of the royal family as of this weekend. And we have an amazing relationship with the royal family. The brand Madame Tussauds and the royal family have worked for years and years, centuries and centuries. Actually Marie herself had a very close relationship with the royal family, so we had to make sure we had the new head of the royal family.
So as I mentioned, Marie Tussaud had such a close relationship with the royal family. During the French Revolution, that connection with the royal family actually got her shaved and ready for the guillotine, but it was actually her amazing artistry that saved her life. The unfortunate thing is, once she saved-- her life was saved, she then had to make death masks of all of those in the royal family. So she had to make death masks of her actual friends.
So the King, I mean, the resemblance is absolutely uncanny. You know, the details that we go into with our figures is incredible. It's taken over nine months to create this figure. Hair has been individually inserted. The suit itself is a replica of a suit that he's previously worn.
And it was actually made by the King's tailor himself, so that relationship that we do have with the royal family has given us this incredible opportunity to make sure that the figure is ready for our attraction. King Charles III will be joining our attraction at Madame Tussauds Sydney down in Darling Harbor. He'll be in our new, refreshed royal zone where you can take the throne yourself right next to the King hold the scepter, and he'll be joining the rest of the royal family.
[BAGPIPES PLAYING]
- Nine months in the making, today's ceremony marks the formal proclamation of the beginning of our new King's reign at Madame Tussauds Sydney of Darling Harbor. We now hereby with one voice in consent of tongue and heart proclaim that Prince Charles Philip Arthur George is now by the death of our late sovereign Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III. By the grace of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we do acknowledge with all faith with humbled ancestors.
[BAGPIPES PLAYING]
