Westminster Abbey

The date for the coronation of King Charles III, Saturday 6th May, falls just less than a month before the 70th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned June 2, 1953. Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066, and King Charles III will be the 40th reigning monarch to have a coronation service at the Abbey. The first documented coronation held at Westminster was for William the Conqueror on Christmas Day 1066, who probably chose the Abbey for his coronation to reinforce his claim to be a legitimate successor of Edward the Confessor, the English king and saint who had re-founded the Abbey. The Abbey's status as a house of kings also influenced Henry III when he re-built Edward’s church in the Gothic style of architecture from 1245. A large space –or coronation theatre – was planned under the lantern, between the quire and the High Altar. The first king to be crowned in the present Abbey building was Edward I in 1274. The coronation is a solemn religious service, and since the late 14th century every coronation has followed, to a greater or lesser extent, the same order of service laid down in the medieval illuminated Latin manuscript, the Liber Regalis (or ‘royal book’). The Liber Regalis is thought to have been made for the coronation of Richard II’s queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1382. It includes instructions for the crowning of a king, a queen, and a king and queen together. The instructions reflect the service as it was performed until the reign of Elizabeth I, and despite various changes after that date the basic format has remained recognisable in all subsequent coronation services. Among the elements of the service which have endured is the anointing with holy oil. A canopy is held over the monarch to shield this part of the ceremony from the congregation as this, and not the crowning, is the most sacred part of the service. The Archbishop pours the oil from the ampulla – an eagleshaped vessel – into the coronation spoon and anoints the sovereign before they are invested with regalia and crowned. The act of crowning takes place in the Coronation Chair, which stands facing the High Altar. The Chair was made in 1300-1301, commissioned by Edward I to enclose the famous Stone of Destiny – an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy which Edward had brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296. Elaborately decorated with pieces of coloured glass and gold leaf, the oak Chair was a magnificent, glittering piece of furniture. It has suffered damage over the centuries and has lost much of its original decoration, but remains at the heart of coronation ceremonies. Twenty-six reigning monarchs are known to have been crowned in the Chair.