As well as wearing several crowns at his
Coronation (well, this is a once only event after all), King
Charles will also be clothed in a variety of robes. The first out
of the royal wardrobe will be the Robe of State and while The King
won’t wear it for the whole of the ceremony, it won’t be the only
time this special garment is used during his reign. The Robe of
State is worn by the Monarch…
It is a considered a gem meant for
monarchs, but there is one notable exception to the rules around
St. Edward’s Crown: Anne Boleyn. St. Edward’s Crown is the oldest
and heaviest crown in use in the British collection. Worn by Edward
the Confessor during his reign…
One thing has been certain about the
Coronation of King Charles III from the very start. Even before the
date was known, the location of the crowning of the new Monarch was
set in stone. For Charles III, like every King and Queen for almost
a millennium, will be crowned at…
It is one of the most striking portraits
of George VI painted in his reign and contains all the symbols of
his kingship in a dramatic and historic setting. But this famous
image had to wait for completion because of war. The famous
portrait by Sir Gerald Festus Kelly was commissioned by the king in
early 1938, just a few months after he was crowned at Westminster
Abbey. It shows him in his…
The reign of King Henry IV began with
usurpation and heralded a period of power struggles that would end
in the War of the Roses. As he rode to his Coronation, in 1399, his
predecessor languished in jail and would die in mysterious
circumstances within months. Henry IV’s…
Each royal house has its own royal
chivalric orders. Sweden has several royal orders; the Order of the
Polar Star is one of the oldest orders in Sweden. The Order of the
Polar Star was established on 23 February 1748 by King Frederick I,
along with the Order of the…
For a princess who claimed a bit of a
royal first at the baptismal font, it’s perhaps not surprising that
Patricia of Connaught – known for most of her adult life as Lady
Patricia Ramsey – ended up changing plenty of regal rules on her
way. The little girl who was born in Buckingham Palace on
March 17th 1886 grew up to be one of the most eligible women in
Europe, and when she…
Televising the Coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II was a crowning achievement! On June 2, 1953 over eight
million people watched on their own televisions, 10 million people
watched in the homes of friends and family who owned TVs and 1.5
million went to cinemas, pubs and…
The Coronation of King George I in 1714
marked the beginning of a new dynasty on the throne of Great
Britain but its crowning moment was rather a difficult affair in
more ways than one. After Queen Anne’s death in August 1714,
George inherited the throne due to the…
It’s little and often overlooked and yet
it remains one of the most important parts of the Crown Jewels. The
golden ampulla dates back to the reign of the last king called
Charles to be crowned at Westminster Abbey and it will play a vital
part in the Coronation of King Charles III. The ampulla holds the
holy oil which is used by the Archbishop of Canterbury to anoint
the Monarch before…
