Coronation – Aspects of the Coronation .... Part 4/5

I have done this posting using the alphabet ... when you have a ‘Z’ for Zadok the Priest, ‘Q’ for Queen, ‘J’ for Judge ... and somewhere there’s an X I’m sure of it! ... so it made sense to me to jot pertinent or interesting points down ...

 

BBC's Radio Times

Ampulla -  the gold, eagle-shaped bottle, which is part of the Coronation Regalia, held the sacred oil, from which the Queen was anointed.

The aromatic holy oil was made from the same base as that used at her father’s, George VI, Coronation.

BBC – the first time they had broadcast from the Abbey, or had broadcast such a momentous event to the nation, and to the world.

Buckingham Palace Summer Exhibition 2013 will highlight archival and present items from the collections of the Coronation and the 60^th anniversary commemoration.

Coronation – almost every monarch in our history over the last 1,000 years has been crowned, and each time that history is reprised.

Crown – St Edward’s Crown is solid gold encrusted with jewels and weighs over 2kgs (5lbs).  Cromwell destroyed the original ... and this Crown was made in 1661 for the coronation of King Charles II.

Vital statistics of the solid gold crown is that it stands just over twelve inches high (31cm), while it is studded with 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies.

Queen Victoria and Edward VII did not use the St Edward’s Crown – they both preferred the Imperial State Crown as it is lighter.

Princess Anne's and Prince Charles's
Coronation outfits, which will be shown
at the Summer Exhibition

Diplomacy/Discretion – the exemplar of these ... Queen Elizabeth II  has given counsel to prime ministers and world leaders, who knew whatever they confided to her would never be divulged.  There is no man or woman who can match this diplomatic record.

Dressers’ Floor at Buckingham Palace – who knew?!

In 2013 the Queen’s oyster silk-satin brocade dress was made from material held in the Palace stock.

The James Bond Royal Olympic episode ... the dress makers were requested to make two dresses for THAT JUMP ... now they know why.

The white Coronation dress, designed by Norman Hartnell, was decorated with thousands of tiny seed pearls, and the floral emblems of all the countries encompassed in the oath.

(Book available: “Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe” allows readers unprecedented access to the Dressers’ Floor at Buckingham Palace.  By Angela Kelly, published by the Royal Collection Trust - available via Amazon.)

Escaping the Tower! The 350 year-old crown used for the Queen’s coronation left the Tower of London for the first time since 1953 to play its part in the Ceremony.

Faiths – the Coronation in 1953 was a strictly Anglican Christian event, but in 2013 Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other faiths were represented ... reflecting our multi-cultural society

Gun Salute Members of the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Territorial Regiment, fired a 62 gun-salute at the Tower of London.

Prince Charles's Invitation, will
also be on show at the Summer
Exhbition

Herbert Howell’s motet “Behold Oh God our Defender” was sung by The Anointing Choir as the flask of oil was placed on the altar to represent the anointing of the Queen during her Coronation.

Invitation – Prince Charles, aged 5, was issued an invitation to attend the Coronation.  The special invitation featured the royal lion, the unicorn, the royal coat of arms, and soldiers ... exactly what a small boy would like to have.  The Queen commanded in her invitation Prince Charles to attend.

A Judge processed, with ten other generational representatives, the symbolic flask of oil to the altar.

King George VI had been a good king in hard times: courageous in the unknowable hazards of war and in the exhausted years of post-war austerity.

Little Book of Private Devotions – the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Coronation in 1953 gave the Queen this little book containing a daily prayer and meditations.

 

Westminster Abbey looking down the
nave and up at the roof

Long Live the Queen – loudly rings out when the Queen was crowned

Low key celebration: no pomp and circumstance – the royals arrived by car, the men were in lounge suits, no medals were displayed – the main celebrations were held last year for the Diamond Jubilee.

Mothballs – a gentle aroma of naphthalene from the gowns (peers and peeresses) which had been stored away ...

National Anthem ... and I couldn’t come up with an “N”!

The Oath – sixty years ago the Queen swore the oath “to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon”, and of her “Possessions and other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs” – these are somewhat fewer these days and Britain is a much-changed nation.

Peal of Bells –The Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers, will ring a Coronation Sixtieth Anniversary celebratory peal of London Surprise Royal comprising 5060 changes.

People invited in 2013 – anyone associated with the service in 1953, and then others chosen by the Lord Lieutenants, the Queen’s representatives in our counties, who are members of society from public service, the armed forces, and ‘worthies’ ...  

Poetry – the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann  Duffy, managed a dignified, touching meditation on “The Crown” – including the symbolism that is the Crown, and the humanity of the woman who has been our monarch for six decades ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jun/04/carol-ann-duffy-the-crown-poem

1953 the crowned Queen

Ready, Girls? At the point, just before the Queen began her procession to King Edward’s Chair, where she would take the Coronation Oath, Her Majesty paused ... turned to the ladies carrying her crimson velvet train ... and said “Ready, Girls?”

Regalia – the Ampulla and Crown are two of the Regalia used at the Coronation, which were brought to the Abbey to be placed on the high altar ...

·        The Ampulla represents the Queen’s commitment to God

·        The Crown her commitment to her people

Royal Baby – is apparently due in about a month ... the 3^rd in line to the throne, after its grandfather and father.

Royal Peculiar – Westminster Abbey is a Royal Peculiar ... it is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop.  The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times.

Sermon – the address given by the Archbishop of Canterbury sounded like a rallying cry for the Established Church.

The Queen Opening Parliament - one
of her duties to the British people

Silence – once the Abbey doors opened the expectant silence of the young monarch arriving, after the noisy chatting of the waiting congregation.

Thirty Eighth sovereign to be crowned.

The Union of the Crowns (March 1603) was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the thrones of England and Ireland, and the consequential unification of Scotland with both realms under a single monarch. 

The Union of the Crowns followed the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England – the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, who was James’ unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed.

The Vivats – were reprised for the 60^th anniversary of the Coronation, and were slotted in to the anthem as the Queen and the Duke came down the aisle together for the Service. 

The rousing cries of Vivat Regina and the Coronation introit “I was Glad” by Hubert Parry resonated through the Abbey.

Westminster Abbey is where the Kings and Queens of England have been crowned since William the Conqueror on Christmas day in 1066.

Yellow, cream and white flowers decorating
Westminster Abbey

X         LX = Sixty in roman numerals – remember?

York Minster was the first Minster church built for the baptism of Edwin in 627AD.  King Edwin, as he became, converted to Christianity and established York as the centre for ecclesiastical and educational affairs.   

Alcuin of York, the great philosopher and theologian, as well as Charlemagne’s leading advisor, had a long career here in the 8^th century: this has links to my mother’s interest in Alcuin from a prayer card, left by the Chaplin when she was in the Acute Brain Injury Unit.

 

St Bede the Venerable -
 c/o Diocese of Shrewsbury 

The Venerable Bede (672 – 735 AD) wrote his ‘An Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ – which recorded Edwin’s and Alcuin’s history and  the commencement of the country’s conversion to Christianity.

Zadok the Priest – reading by Prime Minister, David Cameron – who effortlessly cleared the tricky hurdle of the Clerethites and Pelethites in his reading from the book of Kings ...   (1 Kings 1:32-40)

The ritual of anointing, the most sacred part of the Coronation in which the Queen was consecrated as monarch, has its origins in the anointing of King Solomon by the priest Zadok in the 10^th century BC.

This completes my A – Z ... and my next two posts will cover the music and the actual service from both the Coronation and the anniversary commemoration.  Then last but not least there will be a brief baby post tying the last few years of royalty together.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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