On May 6th 2023, the fortieth Coronation of a Monarch since the Norman Conquest takes place at Westminster Abbey.
King Charles III will be crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony that is little changed through the centuries. It will be, as it has been for the thirty nine kings and queens before him who have been crowned, one of the most important moments of his reign and of his life.
However, not every monarch since 1066 has been crowned. Two kings had no coronation, their reigns ending before that crowning moment but for very different reasons.
King Edward V
Edward was just 12 when he became king, on April 9th 1483 and it was apparent plans for his coronation that would start a mystery that continues to fascinate to this day.
King Edward was in Ludlow when his father, King Edward IV, died and he immediately became the focus of a struggle for power. The young monarch’s uncle, Richard, claimed he had been named as protector by Edward IV and set out from York to collect the new king. However, the family of Edward V’s mother also claimed control of the boy and carried him as far as Buckinghamshire before meeting Richard.
He took control of the situation and the new king who was taken to his capital to prepare for a coronation. And, as was traditional, the uncrowned monarch headed to the Tower of London where it was usual for a king to await their crown. Edward V never left its walls again.
He arrived at the Tower on May 19th 1483 but his uncle, Richard, kept putting off the coronation. Then, on June 22nd 1483, a sermon was preached claiming that the new king was illegitimate. Ralph Shaw declared that Edward IV was already contracted to marry before he wed Elizabeth Woodville, mother of Edward V. This meant that their marriage was invalid and none of their children had any claim on the throne. Edward V was deposed with his uncle becoming Richard III.
Edward and his only surviving brother, Richard, were taken to rooms deeper inside the Tower and were seen less and less often as the summer wore on. By the early autumn, they had disappeared from view. Their fate remains unknown but rumours soon sprung up that they had been murdered on the orders of Richard III.
Edward V had gone to the Tower to prepare for his coronation but he was deposed instead and, in all likelihood, died young.
Edward VIII
The second king never to be crowned shared a name but had a very different fate. Plans for Edward VIII’s coronation were in full swing when he decided to give up his crown to marry for love.
Edward took the throne on January 20th 1936 on the death of his father, George V. He had been a popular Prince of Wales and the accession of a young, glamourous monarch was greeted well. However, inside the walls of Buckingham Palace there were already concerns about the reign of the new king. Before his death, George V had expressed worries about Edward’s commitment and was reported to have said he hoped the throne would eventually go to his second son, Bertie, and then his daughter, Elizabeth.
By the time Edward became king, his relationship with Wallis Simpson was well known within royal and aristocratic circles but it remained hidden from the public. Wallis Simpson had divorced her first husband and was still married to her second as her royal lover became king. By the autumn of 1936, she had divorced for a second time and King Edward made it clear that he planned to marry her.
Consultations with his Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, indicated a constitutional crisis should the wedding go ahead and on December 10th 1936, Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication, ending his reign of almost eleven months. His radio broadcast the following day explained his decision with one of the most famous lines in recent royal history ‘I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.”
Edward VIII’s Coronation had been planned for May 12th 1937 with souvenirs already made for the big day. The ancient ceremony went ahead exactly as planned but for his successor, not him. George V’s wish had come true – his second son, Bertie, was crowned King George VI watched by his own heir who would become Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning Monarch in British history.
