The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, all of which have abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies.
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
Alexandra of Denmark was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the wife of King Edward VII.
The 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria, Edward VII's mother and predecessor, had been an unrehearsed and somewhat lacklustre event in the Abbey, though the newly extended street procession and celebrations around the country had been a great popular success. The success of Victoria's Golden and Diamond Jubilees had created the expectation that Edward's coronation would be an expression of the nation's status as a great imperial power. In December 1901, an Executive Coronation Committee was formed, whose leading member, Viscount Esher, worked closely with the King to set the agenda for the event.[2] Esher had been responsible for organising the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and was one of the driving forces behind the renewed enthusiasm for royal ceremonial.[3] The position of Director of Music was given to Sir Frederick Bridge, the organist and choirmaster at Westminster Abbey; the first Abbey organist since Henry Purcell to be given that role. Bridge had successfully transformed the quality of music at the Abbey and had directed the music at the Golden Jubilee, for which he had been made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.[4]
The coronation of Queen Victoria took place on Thursday, 28 June 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne of the United Kingdom at the age of 18. The ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey after a public procession through the streets from Buckingham Palace, to which the Queen returned later as part of a second procession.
The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 June 1887 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a banquet to which 50 European kings and princes were invited.
Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, was a historian and Liberal politician in the United Kingdom, although his greatest influence over military and foreign affairs was as a courtier, member of public committees and behind-the-scenes "fixer", or rather éminence grise.
Illness and postponement
By the time of his accession, the 59-year-old Edward was overweight and fond of large meals and cigars. He launched himself into his new role, but his first busy months on the throne were bedevilled by a succession of illnesses and injuries.[5] On 23 June, three days before the date set for the coronation, Edward and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark, returned from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace in preparation. Foreign journalists noted that he appeared "worn and pale" and was leaning heavily on his cane. That evening, the King and Queen hosted a formal dinner for seventy British and overseas royal guests.
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and for its architecture.
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning.
On the following day at 12 noon, a telegram marked "OFFICIAL" was dispatched around the Empire, with the news that the coronation was postponed and that the King was undergoing an operation. Shortly afterwards, a bulletin was released from Edward's medical team, stating that "The King is suffering from perityphlitis. The condition on Saturday was so satisfactory that it was hoped that with care His Majesty would be able to go through the Coronation ceremonies. On Monday evening a recrudescence became manifest, rendering a surgical operation necessary today".[6] It was undersigned by, among others, Lord Lister and Sir Frederick Treves,[6] who actually carried out the operation on a table in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, to drain his abdominal cyst.[5]
Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet was a prominent British surgeon, and an expert in anatomy. Treves was renowned for his surgical treatment of appendicitis, and is credited with saving the life of King Edward VII in 1902. He is also widely known for his friendship with Joseph Merrick, dubbed the "Elephant Man" for his severe deformities.
On 26 June itself, a "solemn service of intercession" was held at St Paul's Cathedral, which was attended by many of the British and foreign dignitaries who were in London for the coronation.[7] Although workmen immediately received instructions to begin dismantling the wooden stands that had been erected along the route of the procession, Edward was insistent that regional celebrations and a planned "Coronation Dinner for the Poor of London" should go ahead.[6] Organised by Sir Thomas Lipton, 500,000 dinners were served to Londoners on 5 July at 800 locations around the capital.[8] The King personally contributed £30,000 towards the cost[9] and there were donations by commercial companies and wealthy individuals. The confectionery maker Rowntree's provided each diner with a tin of chocolate and a rather better one for the 60,000 people who had acted as stewards, on the grounds that they would "be of greater influence socially than the poor".[10]
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grade I listed building. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. The present cathedral, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed in Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding programme in the City after the Great Fire of London. The cathedral building largely destroyed in the Great Fire, now often referred to as Old St Paul's Cathedral, was a central focus for medieval and early modern London, including Paul's walk and St. Paul's Churchyard being the site of St. Paul's Cross.
Rowntree's is an English confectionery business based in York. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat, Aero, Fruit Pastilles, Smarties brands, and the Rolo and Quality Street brands when it merged with Mackintosh's in 1969 to form Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery. Rowntree's also launched After Eight thin mint chocolates in 1962.
Many people had intended to watch the coronation procession, and rooms along the planned route had been rented out at high rates for the expected day of the coronation. The postponement of the coronation led to many demands for refunds on the rental contracts, resulting in the "Coronation cases", which set an important precedent in the doctrine of frustration of purpose in the English common law of contract.[11]
The Coronation cases were a group of appellate opinions in English law cases, all arising out of contracts that had been made for accommodation for viewing the celebrations surrounding the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, originally scheduled for 26 June 1902. The King fell ill with appendicitis two days before the planned Coronation and it was postponed until 9 August.
Frustration of purpose, in law, is a defense to enforcement of a contract. Frustration of purpose occurs when an unforeseen event undermines a party's principal purpose for entering into a contract such that the performance of the contract is radically different from performance of the contract that was originally contemplated by both parties, and both parties knew of the principal purpose at the time the contract was made. Despite frequently arising as a result of government action, any third party or even nature can frustrate a contracting party's primary purpose for entering into the contract. The concept is also called commercial frustration.
In law, common law is that body of law derived from judicial decisions of courts and similar tribunals. The defining characteristic of “common law” is that it arises as precedent. In cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past precedential decisions of relevant courts, and synthesizes the principles of those past cases as applicable to the current facts. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the past, the court is usually bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision. If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases, and legislative statutes are either silent or ambiguous on the question, judges have the authority and duty to resolve the issue. The court states an opinion that gives reasons for the decision, and those reasons agglomerate with past decisions as precedent to bind future judges and litigants. Common law, as the body of law made by judges, stands in contrast to and on equal footing with statutes which are adopted through the legislative process, and regulations which are promulgated by the executive branch. Stare decisis, the principle that cases should be decided according to consistent principled rules so that similar facts will yield similar results, lies at the heart of all common law systems.
The service
The anointing of Queen Alexandra
One unintended effect of the postponement was the departure of the foreign delegations; they didn't return for the rescheduled ceremony, leaving their countries to be represented by their ambassadors. This made the coronation "a domestic celebration of the British race united by the influence of the Imperial Crown" according to J. E. C. Bodley, the official historian of the event.[12] Among the 8,000 guests at the Abbey were the prime ministers of the British Dominions, thirty one rulers of the Indian princely states, the Sultan of Perak and the Litunga of Barotseland. The Times enthused that "King Edward is the first of our kings to be attended in his Coronation by an illustrious group of statesmen from our self-governing colonies, as he is the first to be accompanied by a number of the great feudatory Princes of India... They are bound to preserve the fabric of British polity and of British civilization."[13]
An impression by Edith Harwood (1866–1926) of the colonial princes at Edward's coronation, from The Masque of the Edwards of England published in 1902
The contents of the service itself had been carefully selected to ensure that its spiritual character was maintained, while keeping the ceremony as brief as possible. The draft was mainly the work of Randall Davidson, the Bishop of Winchester.[14]
The service was conducted by the elderly and infirm Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, who would be dead before the end of the year. He steadfastly refused to delegate any part of his duties and had to be supported throughout by two other bishops. Because of his failing eyesight, the text of the service had to be printed in gigantic type onto rolls of paper called "prompt scrolls"; they are preserved in the Lambeth Palace Library.[15] Archbishop Temple provided most of the upsets in an otherwise splendid ceremony; he was unable to rise after kneeling to pay homage and had to be helped up by the King and several bishops,[16] he placed the crown back-to-front on the King's head, and when a colleague enquired after his well being, he was told to "go away!" in a loud voice that was plainly heard by the congregation.[17] The King also deviated from the order of service; when the Prince of Wales touched the Crown and kissed his father's left cheek in the traditional gesture of homage, the King rose to his feet and threw his arms around his son's neck in an unusual display of affection. Because he was still convalescing, Edward had been crowned with the Imperial State Crown instead of the intended St Edward's Crown which is heavier. Alexandra was crowned immediately after her husband[18] by William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York.[19] She was crowned with a new crown containing the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Music
On receiving his commission as Director of Music, it was made clear to Frederick Bridge that the coronation needed music of sufficient majesty and grandeur to make the event unparalleled in history. He was assisted by Sir Walter Parratt, the Master of the King's Music, who had the influence at court that Bridge lacked.[20] Bridge decided to make the coronation a celebration of four hundred years of English music.[21] Settings of the coronation texts composed by Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell were included alongside works by modern composers such as Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford and John Stainer. New work commissioned for the occasion famously included Hubert Parry's setting of Psalm 122, "I was glad" which skillfully incorporated the traditional acclamation of "Vivat Rex" by the King's Scholars of Westminster School on the entrance of the sovereign. It has been used at every coronation since.[22]
The music was performed by a choir of 430, a 65 piece orchestra and 10 State Trumpeters. At the 1838 coronation, the organist had attempted to play the instrument and conduct at the same time, with the result that neither function was satisfactory. Bridge not only delegated the organ to Walter Alcock, but also used two sub-conductors, and furthermore alternated with Parratt in conducting from the top of the organ screen. The only real musical error was that Bridge misjudged the timing of I Was Glad and had finished the anthem before the King had arrived, having to repeat it when the right moment came. Bridge was saved by the organist, who improvised in the interim.[23]
The Procession in State was originally to have included military contingents from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Russia and Portugal.[24] However, following the postponement, these returned home, leaving the parade a wholly British and Imperial affair. Out of a total of 30,000 men marching or lining the route, over 2,000 were representatives of colonial, Dominion or Indian forces. The remainder represented every corps and regiment of the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines.[25] A procession of carriages carried British and overseas dignitaries and was followed by the King's equerries, aides-de-camp and eminent commanders including Lord Kitchener, Lord Roberts and Lord Wolseley.[26]
A second procession, which had been planned for the day after the coronation service to tour the City of London and Southwark, was postponed until 25 October because of the King's health.[27]
Aside from the postponed procession, the final coronation event was the Review of the Fleet on 16 August at Spithead off the coast at Portsmouth. Without bringing a single warship back from any overseas station, the Royal Navy was able to muster 20 battleships, 24 cruisers and 47 destroyers. A number of foreign warships were invited to participate. An estimated crowd of 100,000 watched from the shore or from pleasure steamers and small boats at sea.[28] Although there had been no less than seventeen fleet reviews during Victoria's reign, this was the first to be associated with a coronation.[29]
The British royal family comprises Queen Elizabeth II and her close relations. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the British royal family.
Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the wife of King George V.
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark,, later known as the Duchess of Kent, was a princess of the Greek royal house, who married Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V of the United Kingdom in 1934. They had three children: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael.
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII.
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife was the third child and the eldest daughter of the British king Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark; she was a younger sister of George V. She was the eldest granddaughter of Christian IX of Denmark. In 1905, her father gave her the title of Princess Royal, which is usually bestowed on the eldest daughter of the British monarch if there is no living holder.
Princess Maud, later Countess of Southesk, was a granddaughter of the British king Edward VII. Maud and her elder sister, Alexandra, had the distinction of being the only female-line descendants of a British sovereign officially granted both the title of Princess and the style of Highness. Despite the fact that they were not daughters of a royal duke, they were sometimes unofficially referred to with the territorial designation of Fife but in official documents, until their marriages, they were always styled Her Highness Princess Maud or Alexandra, without the territorial designation "of Fife".
Maud of Wales, was Queen of Norway as spouse of King Haakon VII. She was the youngest daughter of the British king Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. Maud of Wales was the first queen of Norway in over five centuries who was not also queen of Denmark or Sweden.
Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom was the fourth child and second daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, and the younger sister of George V.
This is a list of those who have held the title Princess of the United Kingdom from the accession of George I in 1714. This article deals with both princesses of the blood royal and women who become princesses upon marriage.
This is a list of the 42 grandchildren of the British Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, each of whom was therefore either a sibling or a first cousin to each of the others. It also lists Victoria and Albert's 9 children and 87 great-grandchildren, as well as the spouses of those children and grandchildren who married.
The funeral of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India occurred on Friday, 20 May 1910.
The wedding of Prince George, Duke of York, and Princess Mary of Teck took place on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in London.
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten took place on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey in London. Philip had been made Duke of Edinburgh on the morning of the wedding.
The coronation of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May 1937 and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.
The funeral of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, occurred on 2 February 1901. It was one of the largest gatherings of European royalty ever to take place.
The coronation of George V and Mary of Teck as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Empire took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 22 June 1911. This was second of four such events held during the 20th century and the last to be attended by royal representatives of the great continental European empires.
The wedding of Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy took place on Wednesday, 24 April 1963 at Westminster Abbey. Princess Alexandra is the only daughter and second child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, while The Hon. Angus Ogilvy was the second son and fifth child of The 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke.
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