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 Edward I. In fact, when kings
were crowned, they would sit directly on the Stone of Scone. In
later years, a piece of wood…
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…
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 from 1003 to 1066, it became a holy
relic when Edward was canonized by Pope Alexander III. The original
crown was used in the…
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…
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 coronation was a show of
power, designed to establish his authority at a time of turbulence
and to demonstrate that he was a…
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…
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 halls to view this live event.
Before this coronations were limited to those invited inside
Westminster Abbey although…
