The Prince of Wales will be at the British Library on Thursday 12th March as he opens the new exhibition, ‘Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy’. Following the opening of the commemorative exhibition, Prince Charles will attend a reception in support of the British Library.
As 2015 marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the British Library will be staging their own leading international exhibition on the world-famous charter. The socio-political context from which Magna Carta sprang will be further explored in the exhibition as well as how the legacy of Magna Carta has evolved over its 800 year history.
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and holds around 170 million items from various countries including books, manuscripts, newspapers, prints and drawings. The British Library is the largest library in the world by number of items catalogued and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
After his official opening of the exhibition, Prince Charles will have the chance to view the Statue of Geoffrey de Mandeville which is on loan from the House of Lords as well as The Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty was first signed on 6th February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Maori chiefs from New Zealand. The treaty established a British Governor of New Zealand whilst giving the Maori the rights of British subjects.
Visitors to the new Magna Carta exhibition at the British Library will be given the rare opportunity to engage with some original documents, consider the history and legacy of the historical charter as well as realising just how relevant Magna Carta is in the present day. As well as Magna Carta, the exhibition will also draw on the library’s strong historical collections to further enhance its impact on visitors.
Whilst at the British Library, The Prince of Wales will also get the opportunity to view an original Magna Carta manuscript from 1215. Charles will also witness the US Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights, which are on loan from the New York Public Library and US National Archives.
From the 17th-20th March, The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will be in the United States. During this visit Prince Charles will once again mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta during a visit to the National Archives in Washington where he will get the chance to view the Charters of Freedom and the 1297 version of Magna Carta.
Magna Carta is a charter agreed by King John of England in 1215 and first drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to make peace between the King and a group of rebel barons. Amongst other things, Magna Carta promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment and limitations on feudal payments to the crown. 2015 marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and many celebrations are scheduled to take place in honour of this milestone. Events include a river pageant in Runnymede where Magna Carta was sealed, two of Cunard’s three Queens displaying facsimile’s of Magna Carta and The Queen inspecting a modern copy of Magna Carta at a Buckingham Palace reception. It was also recently reported that a forgotten version of Magna Carta was unearthed in council archives.
Following the opening of ‘Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy’, Prince Charles will attend a reception for supporters of the British Library.
As part of the British Library Act 1972, the British Library was created on 1st July 1973 having previously been a part of the British Museum.
Featured Photo Credit: tpsdave
I’m a descendant of King John and I would love to be there!
When I taught HS here in the US, I did some lessons comparing M.C. with the Declaration of Independence. Many of the things which Jefferson accuses King George of doing are things forbidden to the monarch by MC. Hence, we didn’t have an American Revolution, but an American EVOLUTION.