Schoolmates from Kirkby in amazing reunion as Army soldiers at Coronation

Friends Jordan Larua-Brooks, 26, who serves in the Parachute Regiment, and Nathan Musson, 24, of the Irish Guards, both went to Ashfield Comprehensive School.

But they had not seen each other for several years. So they were stunned to meet up after taking part in the ceremonial procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace during the Coronation of King Charles II.

"It was a massive honour to be selected to take part in the procession in the first place,” said Jordan’s proud mum, Silika Brooks, 51, who lives in Kirkby.

"More than 7,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators marched, and yet Jordan and Nathan still managed to bump into each other.

"Jordan just randomly spotted Nathan while he was standing around waiting.”

"It was an amazing coincidence. Two young men from Kirkby reunited at the King’s Coronation.”

Nathan joined the Army in 2020. His great grandfather, Christopher Lewis, also served many years ago as a member of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.

The Irish Guards, known affectionately throughout the Army as ‘the Micks’, have the King himself as their colonel-in-chief. They described the Coronation as “their largest ceremonial operation for 70 years”.

Jordan joined the Parachute Regiment as a 17-year-old. He has served in Afghanistan and was involved in the Army’s operation when the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.

In preparation for Saturday’s parade, he joined fellow Paras and other marching troops in late-night and early-morning rehearsals through empty central London streets last week.

Jordan and his brothers, Kane, 29, and Niall, 27, who both serve in the Yorkshire Regiment, are third-generation soldiers from a family with strong links to the Army.

Mum Silika, who now works as a member of an educational behaviour team at Quarrydale Academy in Sutton, served until 1993. And her father, Noa, who originated from Fiji, was recruited by the British Army in the 1960s when he met and married her mum, Jennifer Larua, from Sutton.

"My dad sadly died seven years ago,” said Silika. “I felt really emotional watching the Coronation because he would have loved it.”