The screen that will be held around King Charles III during the most sacred part of the Coronation has been blessed in a special ceremony at St. James’ Palace.
The Sub-Dean and Domestic Chaplain to The King, Paul Wright, received the screen and performed the blessing in the Chapel Royal with just days to go until the Coronation.
The Anointing Screen has been made by the Royal School of Needlework to a design by iconographer, Aidan Hart.
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the School to see work on the material which will ensure that the moment of anointing at this very public ceremony remains completely private.
The Anointing Screen contains three panels which will shield The King from the view of those in the Abbey and the TV cameras. However there will be an opening between the front of the Coronation Chair and the High Altar at Westminster Abbey for the anointing which is seen as a moment of connection between the Sovereign and God.
A screen has traditionally been held around the Monarch to maintain the sanctity of this sacred part of the service.
The design of the new screen includes a tree featuring a nod to all 56 countries of the Commonwealth. At the root is The King’s cypher to denote that His Majesty is the servant of the people.
The tree design, inspired by the stained-glass Sanctuary Window in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace which marked the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, features on one side of the screen. The other two are plainer and covered with embroidery reflecting the Cosmati Pavement, the ancient floor of the Coronation Theatre in Westminster Abbey where the Coronation Chair will stand and where Charles III will be crowned.
The material for the screen is made from wool from Australia and New Zealand, woven in the UK. The embroidery has sustainability at its heart and has been created using many materials already held by the Royal School of Needlework.
A wooden framework, designed by Nick Gutfreund of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, will hold the screen aloft. It, too, is sustainable, made from a tree that had been blown down by the wind at the Windsor estate and which had stood there since 1765 when it was planted by the Duke of Northumberland. The poles of the framework are topped by two eagles, cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf.
The screen has been given to King Charles and Queen Camilla by the City of London Corporation and City Livery Companies.
The Coronation takes place on May 6 2023 at Westminster Abbey.
