British Coronation Traditions

Podcast Transcript

On Might 6, 2023, one thing will occur in London that hasn’t occurred in 70 years. A British monarch will likely be topped. An occasion for which King Charles has spent his complete life in preparation.

The ceremony, which can happen in Westminster Abbey, and can incorporate centuries of traditions, each civil and non secular. Lots of these traditions had particular origins and causes for his or her incorporation into the ceremony.

Be taught extra in regards to the British coronation ceremony and the traditions behind it on this episode of The whole lot All over the place Day by day.

King Charles III has spent 74 years making ready for the day of his coronation. He was the first-born son of the inheritor presumptive, and when his grandfather King George VI died, he turned the inheritor obvious.

His mom, Queen Elizabeth II, turned monarch at a really younger age after which lived to a really previous age, making Charles the longest-waiting inheritor obvious to any royal throne in world historical past.

So, he has had loads of time to assume and plan for his massive day when he could be topped king.

The ceremony that he’ll undergo is one which has developed over 1,000 years. Each ceremony is a bit totally different, however all of them incorporate traditions that have been developed over the earlier centuries.

Whereas Charles is the king and have become so for the time being of the Queen’s dying, the coronation ceremony is an official stamp on the method. It may be considered a marriage ceremony between the monarch and the state, or as an initiation ceremony.

There have been solely two English monarchs who weren’t topped. The primary was Edward V, who was solely a toddler when he took the throne and was believed to have been murdered by his uncle Richard who turned king.

The second was Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in December 1936.

Charles won’t simply be topped the king of the UK. He may also be topped as king of a bunch of different international locations as nicely, together with Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

The day for Charles will begin by leaving Buckingham Palace with Queen Camilla in a carriage often called the Gold State Coach. The Gold State Coach was in-built 1762 as a royal carriage, and it has been utilized in each coronation ceremony since 1831 and the coronation of Wiliam IV.

The carriage is extraordinarily heavy and requires eight horses to tug it at strolling pace.

As soon as inside Westminster Abbey, there will likely be about 2,000 folks in attendance, together with 100 heads of state and members of different royal homes. Royal homes from nearly each monarchy on Earth will likely be attending, together with international locations outdoors of Europe comparable to Thailand, Oman, Bhutan, Tonga, Lesotho, and Japan.

Westminster Abbey is a spiritual constructing, and the coronation is a spiritual ceremony, as King Charles can also be the top of the Church of England. A incontrovertible fact that dates all the best way again to Henry VIII, which I’ve touched on many instances.

The one that will likely be conducting the ceremony is the Bishop of Canterbury, who’s the chief prelate of the Church of England.

There are a number of pivotal elements of the ceremony. One of many first is the taking of the coronation oath. Along with taking the oath, the monarch is introduced to the folks, previously simply the the Aristocracy, for acclimation. A monarch isn’t chosen by acclimation, however they was once throughout the Anglo-Saxon instances.

This asking for acclimation of these in attendance is a convention going again to earlier than the Norman Conquest.

The oath he takes has been part of British regulation because the Superb Revolution within the late seventeenth century. The precise wording of the oath may deviate barely, however there are three core parts. When Queen Elizabeth took her oath in 1953, she promised first: “to manipulate the Peoples … in line with their respective legal guidelines and customs?” Secondly, would she trigger: “Legislation and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all … [her] judgements?” Lastly, would she: “keep the Legal guidelines of God and the true occupation of the Gospel” in addition to “keep in the UK the Protestant Reformed Faith established by regulation.”

There was discuss of breaking the hyperlink between the monarch and the Church of England. At the moment, the British Prime Minister is Hindu, and the First Minister of Scotland is Muslim. Fashionable Britain isn’t the identical nation that fretted about Protestant and Catholic management of the nation within the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

As of at present, nonetheless, this hyperlink nonetheless exists.

The opposite massive a part of the ceremony is the anointing. It’s based mostly on the anointing of Solomon as King within the Previous Testomony.

The king will take away his clothes and put on a particular anointing gown. The Archbishop of Canterbury will place oil on the palms of his arms, his chest, and his head.

This a part of the ceremony isn’t seen by the general public. A material barrier is positioned across the King and Archbishop, and it’s achieved out of sight.

The oil used for the anointing was created in Jerusalem from olive timber on the Mount of Olives. It’s a particular mixture of orange, rose, cinnamon, musk, and ambergris oils. Right here I’ll refer you to my episode on Ambergris and precisely the place it comes from.

The oldest of the crown jewels used within the ceremony is the anointing spoon. Used with the anointing oil, the spoon dates again to a minimum of 1349 and was in all probability made for Henry II or Richard I.

Right here, I ought to word that a lot of the Crown Jewels, the anointing spoon being an exception, solely date again to the reign of Charles II. When Oliver Cromwell disbanded the monarchy, he destroyed a lot of the crown jewels and used them to fund the English treasury.

The article which is on the heart of the ceremony is the Coronation Chair. The Coronation Chair is older than the anointing spoon. It was constructed by Edward I and used within the coronation of Edward II in 1308.

The chair is wood and constructed to carry an object often called the Stone of Scone. The Stone of Scone was a stone that Scottish kings have been topped on. Edward took it in 1296 as an emblem of his dominance over the Scots.

Nevertheless, when Queen Elizabeth I died, King James VI of Scotland all of the sudden turned King James I of England. With the thrones of England and Scotland now unified, the Stone of Scone and the Coronation Chair turned an emblem of the unity of the 2 international locations.

The coronation chair and the Stone of Scone are solely really used throughout the bodily anointing and inserting of the crown upon the monarch’s head. Apart from that, the king will likely be sitting elsewhere.

For years the Scots demanded the return of the stone to Scotland, which lastly occurred in 1996. Nevertheless, its return was predicated that or not it’s utilized in any future coronation ceremonies.

The precise coronation will contain a number of objects, that are collectively the crown jewels. They embrace jewel-encrusted swords, an orb, spurs, bracelets, and different objects which solely ever see use throughout coronation ceremonies.

There are two objects specifically that Charles will maintain in his arms, an orb and a scepter.

The Sovereign’s Orb is a golden jewel-encrusted ball with a cross on the highest, which is held within the monarch’s left hand throughout the coronation. The orb weighs 1.07 kg or 2.4 kilos.

In his different hand will likely be held the scepter. There are six scepters within the assortment, however the primary one which is used throughout the ceremony is known as the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.

There are two crowns used throughout the ceremony. The primary of which is the crown of Saint Edward.

St. Edward’s Crown is called after St. Edward the Confessor, a King of England. The unique crown was destroyed after the execution of Charles I, and the present crown was recreated for Charles II after the restoration in 1661.

The crown is 12 inches tall and weighs 5 kilos, and is product of strong gold. There are 4 arches on the prime with a purple velvet material below the arches, and it’s adorned with 444 treasured stones.

Not each monarch has used the crown throughout their coronation ceremony. The one monarchs who’ve used the crown are Charles II, James II, William III, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II.

The St. Edward’s Crown is normally solely used throughout the coronation itself, which suggests it was final utilized in 1953. It’s doable that King Charles won’t ever put on the crown once more after this ceremony.

The second crown utilized by the monarch after the coronation is known as the Imperial State Crown. It was created in 1937 and is barely smaller and lighter than the St. Edward’s Crown.

That is the crown that the monarch historically wears throughout the opening of parliament. The crown has a whopping 2,901 treasured stones, together with the literal crown jewel: the Cullinan II diamond, which is 317.4 carats or 63.48 grams. It additionally has such noteworthy gems because the St Edward’s Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince’s Ruby.

Charles isn’t the one particular person being topped. His spouse Camila may also be topped as queen.

As I’ve talked about in earlier episodes, there is just one sort of king in the UK, a king monarch. Nevertheless, there are three forms of queens, a queen monarch, a queen consort, and a queen dowager.

After the dying of Queen Elizabeth II, you always heard Camilla known as the Queen Consort. This was as a result of, for the final 70 years, each time somebody referred to the queen, they have been referring to a queen monarch, and there was a must make clear that whereas the titles have been the identical, the roles have been very totally different.

Prince Philip was not topped throughout Queen Elizabeth’s coronation as a result of there is no such thing as a equal function for a male consort of a feminine monarch.

After the crown is positioned on the top of the king, it’s historically adopted by members of the the Aristocracy kneeling earlier than the monarch, pledging their loyalty. Nevertheless, on this ceremony, the one one who will publicly pledge their loyalty will likely be Charle’s son, William, Prince of Wales.

Someday, in all probability within the subsequent 12 months, there is likely to be a separate investiture ceremony for William as Prince of Wales at Carnarvon Fortress in Wales.

Within the background of every little thing happening throughout the coronation will likely be music. Among the music will likely be very conventional. For instance, throughout the precise anointing, Zadok the Priest, by George Frideric Handel, will likely be performed.

That piece was really written by Handel for the coronation of King George II in 1727.

When Charles arrives at Westminster Abbey, a particular coronation march will likely be performed written by Patrick Doyle, the composer who did the rating for a lot of movies, together with a number of Harry Potter motion pictures.

An anthem for the coronation titled “Make A Joyful Noise” was composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber.

There will likely be a large spectrum of music carried out throughout the ceremony, which incorporates a mixture of conventional music in addition to music from modern composers.

No matter what your private opinions of the establishment of monarchy is likely to be, the coronation of a British monarch isn’t one thing that occurs fairly often. It is likely one of the few historical traditions which has survived into the trendy world and one of many few alternatives for pomp and ceremony.

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