The Coronation: What to look out for
English coronation ceremonies have evolved over a thousand years and these rare but magnificent occasions have a cast of characters and a suite of associated objects. We’ve chosen a selection of people and objects featured at King Charles III’s coronation on 6 May 2023. Read about the key part they play in the coronation ceremony, and the history behind these important English traditions.
Who’s who?
The Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally played the most important role in the coronation, conducting the ceremony and crowning the monarch. St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned King Edgar at Bath in 973, the first English coronation of which we have detailed knowledge. Most English kings have been crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, though not all: Elizabeth I was crowned by the Bishop of Carlisle, and William III and Mary II were crowned by Henry Compton, Bishop of London. King Charles III was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.
The next most important person in the 2023 service was Dr David Hoyle, the Dean of Westminster. He conducted the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 and plays the main supporting role to the Archbishop during the coronation ceremony.
The Lord Great Chamberlain – one of the ‘Great Offices of State’ – has also had a number of duties at coronations, including dressing the monarch on the morning of the coronation and serving the monarch during the coronation banquet. In 2023 the Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord Carrington, helped to invest King Charles with the coronation regalia.
The Consecration Oil
The anointing of a sovereign with a consecrated oil or chrism indicates that they are called to their role by God and is the most sacred part of the coronation service. This tradition goes all the way back to the anointing of Solomon as King of Israel almost 3,000 years ago (around 970 BC).
The oil used is traditionally a form of olive oil, with various other ingredients. Ambergris, made from the intestine of a whale, used to be one. The oil for King Charles III’s coronation, however, is free of any animal products. It was made in Jerusalem from olives harvested on the Mount of Olives, perfumed with sesame, jasmine, cinnamon and orange blossom, among other fragrances. It was blessed by the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Most Reverend Hosam Naoum.
During English coronations, the Dean of Westminster pours oil from the ampulla (vessel) into the spoon. The Archbishop then anoints the sovereign in the form of a cross – on the palms, the shoulders and the head.
You can learn more about the anointment and other aspects of the coronation order of service in our article on the history of the coronation.
Read about the History of the CoronationKing Edward’s Chair
Also known as the Coronation Chair, King Edward’s Chair is a unique carved throne of oak in elaborate Gothic style made by the carpenter Walter of Durham about 1297–1300 on the orders of Edward I. The monarch has been enthroned on this chair in every coronation since 1308.
The chair was specifically made to house the Stone of Scone – a stone on which kings of Scotland had been crowned before it was taken by King Edward during the English invasion of Scotland in 1296.
Originally the monarch sat directly on the stone, for which the chair formed an elaborate framework. It was brightly gilded and painted, with panels of glass mosaic, and a painting of a king with his feet resting on a lion on the back. However, most of this decoration has long since worn away.
In the 17th century, a wooden seat was added above the stone. In 1996 the Stone of Scone was removed and returned to Edinburgh, where it is displayed with the Scottish crown jewels in Edinburgh Castle. It was temporarily brought back to Westminster for King Charles III’s coronation.
The Crowns
King Charles III wore two crowns at the 2023 coronation ceremony:
St Edward’s Crown
Also known as the Coronation Crown, the original is believed to have belonged to Edward the Confessor and is recorded as being used at the second coronation of Henry III in 1220. It was apparently used for all subsequent coronations until that of Charles I in 1628, but was destroyed in 1649 during the English Civil Wars.
The present coronation crown was made by Sir Robert Viner in 1661. Its design followed the pre-1649 crown quite closely. Until the 20th century, the jewels set into it were borrowed for coronation ceremonies and then returned. Only in 1910–11 was it permanently set with jewels and slightly reduced in weight. It now weighs 2.25kg.
The sovereign only wears this crown very briefly during the coronation. After the acclamation, the monarch takes off the crown for the blessing and is then crowned with the Imperial State Crown for the remainder of the service.
The Imperial State Crown
While St Edward’s Crown is used only at a coronation ceremony, monarchs have another crown for state occasions. In the 13th and 14th centuries, English monarchs had a ‘great crown’ adorned with crosses and fleurs-de-lys, but without arches. The arches were probably added for Henry VII or Henry VIII to signify that they did not acknowledge any earthly power above them.
The 17th-century State Crown is shown in state portraits of James I and Charles I, but this was destroyed in 1649. Since 1660, there have been successive versions of the crown which used several of the same previous stones.
The present Imperial State Crown was made by Garrard & Company in 1937 for George VI, but its design was based on the previous version for Queen Victoria. It is adorned with 4,000 diamonds, alongside several famous jewels: Edward the Confessor’s sapphire; the Black Prince’s Ruby; the Stuart sapphire; Elizabeth I’s pearl earrings (which hang from the arches); and the Second Star of Africa, the second gem cut from the Cullinan Diamond.
The orb and sceptres
A symbol of the world and of temporal authority, the orb is placed in the monarch’s right hand at the moment of crowning, then placed on the altar.
Medieval sovereigns from Edward the Confessor are represented on their seals holding both orb and sceptre. Elizabeth I holds an orb and sceptre in her coronation portrait of 1559, however the Tudor orb was destroyed along with the rest of the regalia in 1649.
The present orb, which weighs just under 1kg, dates from 1661 and is set with the same jewels it had then: 365 diamonds, 18 rubies, 9 emeralds and 9 sapphires.
Two sceptres are used in the coronation ceremony, both made by Sir Robert Viner in 1661. The sceptre with a cross symbolises earthly authority. The sceptre with the dove, also known as the Rod of Equity and Mercy, is a simpler gold rod crowned with a dove representing the Holy Spirit. It symbolises the sovereign’s spiritual role.
The Robes
During a coronation service, the sovereign is dressed in a white linen shirt (the Colobium Sindonis), with openings that can be unlaced during the anointing ceremony. After this, the sovereign is dressed in robes, based on priestly robes, which represent the spiritual aspect of kingship.
The Supertunica:
The sovereign is first invested with the Supertunica, a full-length sleeved coat of gold silk, elaborately embroidered and equivalent to the dalmatic – a wide-sleeved loose garment worn by priests. The present coronation Supertunica was made in 1911 and used in 1937 and 1953.
The Stole Royal:
Over the Supertunica is placed the Stole, a long band of silk embroidered with emblems of the four realms of the United Kingdom, worn around the shoulders and falling down in front, exactly like the stoles worn by priests. New stoles were made for George VI in 1937 and for Elizabeth II in 1953.
The Imperial Mantle:
Over the Stole, the sovereign is robed in the Imperial Mantle, also known as the Pallium. It is a great cloak, roughly semicircular in shape, worn over the shoulders. It has formed part of coronation dress since medieval times: a great pallium made in Sicily in about 1220 survives in the Vienna Schatzkammer. The current mantle was made for George IV in 1821. It is made of gold cloth and richly embroidered. It was used in 1911, 1937, 1953, and 2023.
The Swords
Since the coronation of Richard I (1189), three swords have been carried, unsheathed and pointing upwards in coronation processions, to represent kingly virtues. A new set of three was made for Charles I’s coronation in 1626 by an Italian smith, Zandona Ferrara. They survived the destruction of the regalia in 1649 and have been used at coronations since then. These are: the Sword of Spiritual Justice, the Sword of Temporal Justice and the Sword of Mercy or the Sword Curtana. The first two are almost identical and both have sharp points. The Sword Curtana has a blunt, rounded end.
In addition to these, which were made specifically for coronations, there is the Sword of State, carried before the monarch in the procession after a coronation. It is also carried before the sovereign at the State Opening of Parliament.
The present Sword of State was made for Charles II by the armourer George Bower in 1678. The velvet-covered scabbard for the sword was made for William III in 1689. When not in use, the swords are kept alongside the rest of the regalia, at the Tower of London.
The Gold State Coach
The Gold State Coach was built in 1760–62 by the London coach-builder Samuel Butler to designs by the architect Sir William Chambers. It is a magnificent work of late Baroque art, almost the last in a European tradition of gilded state coaches with rich sculptural ornament. The door panels were painted with allegorical scenes by Giovanni Battista Cipriani. The coach with its fittings is 29 feet long, 12 feet high, and weighs 4 tonnes. It is drawn by eight horses, normally Windsor greys.
It has been used for most coronations since that of George IV. It has rarely been used otherwise, however, partly because its suspension – with the body hung from the chassis on leather straps – makes for a very uncomfortable ride. William IV compared it to ‘tossing in a rough sea’. For this reason Elizabeth II did not use it at her Diamond Jubilee procession.
In 2023, the King and Queen Consort used the Gold State Coach for their coronation procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.
The Anthems
Coronations have long been an opportunity to showcase the best of contemporary choral music, in a series of anthems based on biblical texts.
The most famous coronation anthems are the four written by George Frederic Handel (1685–1750) for the coronation of George II in 1727. These are: ‘I was glad’, based on the text of Psalm 122; ‘My heart is inditing’, based on Psalm 45; ‘The king shall rejoice’, adapted from Psalm 21; and the most famous of all, ‘Zadok the Priest’, with text from I Kings 1:38–40. The latter has been sung before the anointing of the sovereign at every coronation since its composition.
The most famous version of ‘I was glad’ was written by Sir Hubert Parry for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902. Another anthem, ‘Te Deum Laudamus’ (Thou O God we praise), has been adapted for coronations, notably the version written by Sir William Walton for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.
Historic anthems will be used in 2023, but new music has also been commissioned from composers including Judith Weir, the current Master of the King’s Music, who is celebrated for her choral music.
Header image: Some of the coronation regalia, including the Imperial State Crown, illustrated in 1937 for the coronation of George VI. © Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo
