When King Charles III and Queen Camilla
are crowned on 6 May, many Coronation traditions will take place
for the first time in 70 years. Among them will be the use of the
Gold State Coach for a Coronation procession. However, there is
expected to be a modern twist on this centuries old part of the
ceremonial. The King and Queen Consort won’t use the 260-year-old
coach to travel from…
The coronation of a consort who might have been England's first queen regnant
18th March 2023
In another lifetime, perhaps she’d be
recognised as England’s first queen regnant, but Elizabeth of York
was fated to be a consequential queen consort instead, with her
popularity helping to sow peace in the aftermath of the Wars of the
Roses. Elizabeth holds a unique…
It is a chair with understated elegance
and steeped in history. The Coronation Chair, also known as King
Edward’s Chair or Saint Edward’s Chair, was commissioned by King
Edward I in 1296. Originally, it was meant to hold the Stone of
Scone, taken from Scotland by King…
King Charles III has often been compared
to his great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII. Both ascended the
throne after their mother’s enjoyed record-breaking reigns, and at
the time of each king’s ascension, they both held the record for
longest-serving Prince of Wales. Edward’s coronation in 1902 was
not without some difficulties, though. Although his mother’s
coronation in…
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…
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 Westminster Abbey. Its role in
this ancient ceremony was never even questioned. St. Edward’s Crown
will be brought once…
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…
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…
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 Sword and the Royal Order of the
Seraphim. Although some orders date back as far as 1606, they were
only codified in 1748 by…
