Who was the first commoner to be Queen of
England? There has been a long debate on the matter, because the
parameters for being classified as “commoner” have shifted though
the centuries. Elizabeth Woodville is considered the first commoner
to be crowned as queen consort. The glittering ceremony, in 1464,
came just months after her shock marriage to Edward IV. But was
Elizabeth…
King George V and Queen Mary, like King
Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, were crowned as King and Queen of
the United Kingdom (and Dominions) and as Emperor and Empress of
India. Their 1911 coronation was luckily less eventful than that of
George’s parents. George…
Elizabeth Woodville is considered to be
the first commoner to be crowned as Queen of England. Her
coronation, soon after her marriage to King Edward IV was revealed,
was controversial at the time and would mark a formal beginning to
a royal tenure that was filled with drama…
While there is a traditional uniform for
kings at their coronation, there is not for queens. This has
allowed each queen to wear a gown specifically created for their
coronation day. Queen Alexandra’s coronation dress remains one of
the most sumptuous in British history. King Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra’s coronation encountered some serious issues.
Originally planned for the 26th of…
England has held coronations for hundreds
of years and despite the country’s vast history, one might be
surprised to learn that the oldest part of the Crown Jewels, is a
spoon. The silver-gilt spoon is first recorded in 1349 as being
preserved among St…
The Coronation of King Charles III and
Queen Camilla is to be a carefully executed event, with
preparations well underway for the historic occasion on May 6 at
Westminster Abbey. Plans for the Coronation have generally remained
unchanged for many centuries, with the finer…
While they might not always be crowned
alongside their kings, the consorts in the thousand years since the
Norman Conquest have usually had coronations at Westminster Abbey.
But one queen of England was given her crown thousands of miles
from the realm. Queen Berengaria is a little known figure in
English royal history but she has a place all of her own. The
consort of King Richard I is the…
The spectacular robe that King Charles will wear after his Coronation - the Robe of Estate
21st March 2023
The Coronation of King Charles will see
the Monarch wear two crowns and two spectacular velvet robes. While
Charles III will begin the ceremony in the Robe of State, he will
leave Westminster Abbey as a crowned King and wearing a sumptuous
Robe of Estate. There might be…
It was a royal wedding for the history
books, the marriage of a future king and a regal love match to
boot. On this day in 1929, Olav of Norway married Martha of Sweden
in Oslo. The couple’s romance had captured the public imagination
while their rather glamourous…
When the whole world is watching, the
pressure to pull off an event perfectly like a coronation is
immense. It’s been 70 years since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth
II and during the three-hour service, it’s reported the then
25-year-old made only one mistake. It was a first-of-its-kind event
as modern technology meant that this was the first British
coronation to be televised…