A schoolboy from Harold Wood Primary School has won first prize in a card competition to mark King Charles III’s Coronation. Year 4 student Nathaniel Jeffery’s drawing was picked out of hundreds of entries by school children across the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency after a call for designs by local MP, Julia Lopez.

Mrs Lopez launched the Coronation art competition so that a card could be sent on behalf of residents in her Havering constituency to the King to thank His Majesty for his years of service as the Prince of Wales and to wish him well ahead of his Coronation on 6 May. Nathaniel was invited to celebrate his win with Mrs Lopez and his mum in parliament, where they had tea and cake in the ornate Pugin Room on what also happened to be his ninth birthday.

Before revealing the winning design for the card’s front cover, Mrs Lopez had visited three other successful young artists whose designs and poem made it into the card. After receiving so many excellent submissions from local children, the Hornchurch & Upminster MP decided that it was impossible to choose just one design and therefore selected three artworks and one poem for inclusion on the final Coronation Card for the King. She revealed the winners on visits to Drapers’ Maylands Primary School in Harold Hill and Upminster Junior School on St Mary’s Lane on Friday 21 April. 

On the front of the card is Nathaniel’s winning submission, a cheerful portrait of Buckingham Palace titled ‘The Throne Awaits’, while inside the card is a celebratory poem by Drapers’ Maylands student, Daria Grecu, and a crown motif from Upminster Junior School pupil, Georgia Nicolaidou. On the reverse is a colourful artwork from another Upminster Junior School pupil, Esmé Harvey. 

Mrs Lopez said: “It was a difficult, though thoroughly enjoyable process, to narrow hundreds of submissions down to just a few artworks for our card. I chose Nathaniel’s entry as the winner for its originality, detail and the sense of excitement and anticipation that it builds ahead of Coronation Day. Similarly, Daria’s poem highlights how the coronation provides an opportunity for us all to join in the celebrations of the day and I chose Georgia’s crown and Esmé’s design for their beautiful use of colour and floral references, which reflect the King’s love of the natural world.’

The conclusion of the card competition comes ahead of celebrations in Hornchurch & Upminster and across the country for the bumper Coronation bank holiday weekend, beginning with the Coronation of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort on 6 May. Buckingham Palace is coordinating events with the assistance of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, in which Mrs Lopez is a Minister. 

Alongside the Card for the King competition, Mrs Lopez has been encouraging local organisations to apply for funding to host community events to mark this historic event, and was delighted by news from the National Lottery Community Fund that Thames Chase Community Forest in Upminster will receive money for an afternoon tea and refreshments for residents to celebrate the King's Coronation on 6 May. The project aims to bring the community together for a day of celebration and national heritage.

To help constituents join in the Coronation celebrations, Mrs Lopez: 

• Shares official digital pictures to help with any event promotion, including the Coronation emblem that has been designed by Sir Jony Ive (available to download here). 
• Encourages constituents to use the interactive Coronation map to find events happening in the local area and to share their own event plans to be included on the map. 
• Highlights the Coronation Big Lunches, set up in a nationwide act of celebration and friendship. Communities can sign up and start their Coronation Big Lunch planning by downloading the free resources available online.
• Encourages constituents to get involved and local organisations to sign up to the Big Help Out. You can download the Big Help Out toolkit for more ways that businesses and organisations can get involved.
• Promotes the big screen sites across the UK. As of 14th April, 59 sites across the UK have been confirmed thanks to Government funding and will also be included on the interactive Coronation map.