10 things you didn't know about Coronations

Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 when William the first was crowned here since then many monarchs have had coronation ceremonies in this historic building today we're going to be looking at some of the interesting and lesser-known facts about previous coronations so here are 10 things you didn't know about coronations at Westminster Abbey Richard the first and the bad Omas the coronation of Richard the first or Richard the lionheart as he was known took place on the 3rd of September 1189. five days before his 32nd birthday reports from the ceremony state that bad Omens were noticed during the coronation which included a bat fluttering around the throne and the Abbey's bells ringing mysteriously without warning unfortunately Richard didn't have the best of luck during his time as king he was later captured and imprisoned by Duke Leopold of Austria after insulting him during the Crusades Richard later returned to England after his Ransom was paid only to discover that his brother John was plotting to take his place as King Richard the First's Reign and life came to an end on the 6th of April 1199 when he died from an arrow wound that turned gangrenous Mary the First's new oil and chair Mary the first was the first queen regnant to be crowned and she certainly put her stamp on the ceremony which took place on the 1st of October 1553. she had doubts whether the holy oil which had been used in coronations during the previous 150 years had lost its strength so a fresh Supply blessed by the bishop of Aris was obtained Mary also didn't like the idea of being crowned in the same chair as her Protestant brother Edward VI so a different chair was supplied and blessed by the Pope the oil and the chair weren't the only changes the bishop of Winchester officiated the ceremony as the then Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas cranmer was imprisoned in the Tower of London for treason or great crimes Mary is buried in a vault in the Abbey's lady Chapel Charles the first and the earthquake number of issues occurred on the day of Charles the First's coronation on the 2nd of February 1626 the king wore a white outfit which was seen to be unlucky instead of the customary purple this was apparently suggested by his advisor Archbishop Lord during the ceremony the preacher delivering the sermon included Revelation 2 10 which features the text be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life to top it off an earth Tremor was felt which was said to a fright all in the neighborhood Charles felt many aftershocks as king he dissolved Parliament several times and decided to govern without it civil war soon followed after surrendering himself to the Scots in 1646 he was later tried and finally executed on the 30th of January 1649. James II and the early coronation even though James II's coronation took place on the 23rd of April 1685. he was actually crowned the day before James was a Catholic so the ceremony had no communion this meant that he had been anointed and crowned in the Catholic Rite in The Chapel At Whitehall the previous day things got off to a bad start for James at the moment of crowning during the Abbey ceremony his crown nearly slipped off his head and the Royal Standard at the Tower of London was torn apart by the wind unfortunately his Reign didn't improve a great deal either in 1688 he left for Exile in France James was declared to have abdicated his Reign lasted for less than four years William III Mary II and the wrong ring William III and Mary II's coronation on the 11th of April 1689 was historic for more than one reason it was the only time joint monarchs were crowned in England during the ceremony William sat in the ancient coronation chair whilst Mary used a specially made one this chair can still be seen in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee galleries in the Abbey as well as separate chairs the pair also had separate coronation rings but they got mixed up during the ceremony the Queen's ruby ring which was enlarged for the service was accidentally placed on the king's finger the pair are buried together in a vault beneath the Abbey's lady Chapel [Music] George III and the supper during the ceremony George III's coronation on the 22nd of September 1761 was a long and lavish event George and Queen Charlotte started walking from Westminster Hall to The Abbey at 11AM and they weren't crowned until 3 30 p.m the ceremony was conducted by Archbishop Seca who had already baptized confirmed and married George the service seemed to be too long for some of the congregation who began to eat a meal during the sermon it was even said that the clattering of spoons knives and forks could be heard this wasn't the only eventful meal of the day during the banquet the Lord High Steward's horse had been trained to back out in the presence of royalty to everyone's surprise the horse accidentally entered the hall tail first and presented its backside to the high table [Music] George IV and the band Queen consort George IV's coronation on the 19th of July 1821 was an extravagant occasion it cost a staggering 238 000 pounds and it seemed to have everything except a queen consort although Carolina Brunswick was separated from her husband George IV she insisted on being crowned however the king had other ideas apparently on the day of the coronation she tried to enter through one door but a guard used his sword to stop her entering Caroline then tried to enter via poet's corner but was again refused entry and told that there was no place for her she finally left after failing to get into the church [Music] Victoria and the wrong finger Victoria was only 19 years old when she was crowned on the 28th of June 1838 and it was said that she showed consummate Grace and charm this was especially impressive considering that the service lasted five hours and suffered from a lack of rehearsal so much so that the service was momentarily put on hold because of a discussion about what finger the coronation ring should go on despite the fact that the ring was made for Victoria's little finger it was forced upon her fourth finger Victoria would later write I have the greatest difficulty to take it off again which I at last did with great pain despite these minor problems Victoria described her coronation as the proudest moment of my life and she reigned for just under 63 years Edward VII and the postponed coronation the coronation of Edward VII was all set for the 26th of June 1902 but the king became seriously ill with an abdominal infection caused by appendicitis a few days before the ceremony the infection was so bad that if he didn't have an operation he would have certainly died reluctantly he agreed to the operation under shortened coronation took place on the 9th of August 1902 whilst Edward was still recovering apparently some people at the time recalled a prophecy that he was never meant to be crowned the rescheduled ceremony went as planned although the then Archbishop of Canterbury appeared to drop the crown before placing it on Edward's head the wrong way round this was due to his poor eyesight Edward reigned for just under eight years [Music] Elizabeth II and the coronation chair cat [Music] Elizabeth II wasn't the only one who occupied the coronation chair on the 2nd of June 1953. the chair was in the coronation Theater which is in the middle of a raised stage in front of the high altar on the morning of the ceremony and on the chair's cushion was a sleeping black cat called matins who belonged to one of the Abbey clergy it has been documented that matins was a regular visitor in the Abbey during coronation preparations matins who was named after the Christian service of morning prayer made a small piece of history that day but not compared to Elizabeth who went on to become Britain's longest reigning monarch thank you for watching let us know in the comments if you think there are any events we missed please visit the Abbey website to find out more about the history of coronations and feel free to visit us in person we hope to see you soon [Music]

Channel: Westminster Abbey

Views: 153,855

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Id: bFJ_EXfeun0

Length: 10min 16sec (616 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 26 2023