Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - British Coronation Traditions

Starting point is 00:00:00 On May 6, 2023, something will happen in London that hasn't occurred in 70 years. A British monarch will be crowned, an event for which King Charles has spent his entire life in preparation. The ceremony will take place in Westminster Abbey and will incorporate centuries of tradition, both civil and religious. Many of those traditions had specific origins and reasons for their incorporation into the ceremony. Learn more about the British coronation ceremony and the traditions behind it on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. climb into bed ready to sleep, only to have your mind start racing the moment your head hits the pillow? Thoughts bouncing around, replaying the day or jumping ahead to tomorrow? That is exactly why

Starting point is 00:00:51 Catherine Nikolai created Nothing Much Happens. Each episode is a gentle, cozy bedtime story where, well, nothing much happens. No drama, no tension, nothing you need to follow closely. Just soft narration, calming repetition, and soothing sensory details designed to help your mind slow down and your body relax. It's not about entertainment, it's about rest. and millions of listeners around the world use it every night to quiet their thoughts and finally fall asleep. If you've ever struggled to shut your brain off at night, this might be exactly what you've been missing. You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are every Monday and Thursday. King Charles III has spent 74 years preparing

Starting point is 00:01:37 for the day of his coronation. He was the firstborn son of the heir presumptive, and when his grandfather, King George the Six died, he became the heir apparent. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II became monarch at a very young age and then lived to a very old age, making Charles the longest-waiting heir apparent to any royal throne in world history. So he's had plenty of time to think and plan for his big day when he would be crowned king. The ceremony that he will go through is one which has evolved over 1,000 years. Every ceremony is a bit different, but they all incorporate traditions that were developed over the previous centuries. While Charles is the king, and became so at the moment of the queen's death,

Starting point is 00:02:16 the coronation ceremony is an official stamp on the process. It can be thought of as like a wedding ceremony between the monarch and the state or as an initiation right. There have only been two English monarchs who weren't crowned. The first was Edward V, who was only a child when he took the throne and was believed to have been murdered by his uncle Richard, who then became king. And the second was Edward V, who advocated the throne in December of 1936. Charles will not just be crowned the king of the United Kingdom. He will also be crowned as the king, of a host of other countries as well, including Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Paupe and New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis,

Starting point is 00:02:57 St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. The day for Charles will start by leaving Buckingham Palace with Queen Camilla in a carriage known as the Gold State Coach. The Gold State Coach was built in 1762 as a royal carriage and has been used in every coronation ceremony since 1831 and the coronation of William IV. The carriage is extremely heavy and requires eight horses to pull it at a walking speed. Once inside Westminster Abbey, there will be about 2,000 people in attendance, including 100 heads of state and members of other royal houses. Royal houses from almost every monarchy on earth will be in attendance,

Starting point is 00:03:37 including countries outside of Europe, such as Thailand, Oman, Bhutan, Tonga, Lh, Losovo. and Japan. Westminster Abbey is a religious building, and the coronation is a religious ceremony, as King Charles is also the head of the Church of England, a fact that dates all the way back to Henry VIII, which I've touched on many, many times. The person who will be conducting the ceremony is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the chief prelate of the Church of England. There are several pivotal parts of the ceremony.

Starting point is 00:04:07 One of the first is the taking of the coronation oath. In addition to taking the oath, the monarch is presented. to the people, formerly just the nobility, for acclamation. A monarch isn't chosen by acclamation anymore, but they used to be during the Anglo-Saxon times. This asking for acclamation of those in attendance is a tradition going back to before the Norman conquest. The oath he takes has been part of British law since the glorious revolution in the late 17th century. The exact wording of the oath might deviate slightly, but there are three core components. When Queen Elizabeth took her oath in 1953, she promised first, quote, to govern the peoples according to their respective laws and customs.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Secondly, she would cause, quote, law and justice in mercy to be executed in all her judgments. Lastly, she would, quote, maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospels, as well as maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law, end quote. There has been talk of breaking the link between the monarchy and the Church of England. Currently, the British Prime Minister is Hindu and the First Minister of Scotland is Muslim. Modern Britain isn't the same country that fretted about Protestant and Catholic control of the country in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, as of today, this link still exists. The other big part of the ceremony is the anointing.

Starting point is 00:05:26 It's based on the anointing of Solomon as King in the Old Testament. The king will remove his outer garments and wear a special robe of anointing. The Archbishop of Canterbury will then place oil on the palms of his hands, his chest, and his head. This part of the ceremony is not seen by the public. A cloth barrier is placed around the king and the archbishop, and it is done out of sight. The oil used for the anointing was created in Jerusalem from olive trees on the Mount of Olives. It is a special mix of orange, rose, cinnamon, musk, and ambergris oils. And here I will refer you to my episode on Ambergris and exactly where it comes from. The oldest of the crown jewels used in the ceremony is the anointing spoon,

Starting point is 00:06:06 used with the anointing oil, the spoon dates back to at least 1349, and was probably made for Henry the 2nd or Richard I should note that most of the crown jewels, the anointing spoon being an exception, only date back to the reign of Charles II. When Oliver Cromwell disbanded the monarchy, he destroyed most of the crown jewels or sold them and used them to fund the English treasury. The object which is at the center of the ceremony is the coronation chair. The coronation chair is older than the anointing spoon. It was built by Edward I and used in the coronation of Edward II in 1308.

Starting point is 00:06:41 The chair is wooden and built to hold an object known as the Stone of Scone. The Stone of Scone was a stone that Scottish kings were crowned on. Edward took it in 1296 as a symbol of his dominance over the Scots. However, when Queen Elizabeth I died, King James I of Scotland suddenly became King James I of England. With the thrones of England and Scotland now unified, the stone of Scone and the coronation chair became a symbol of the unity of the two countries. The coronation chair and the Stone of Scone are only actually used during the physical anointing and the placing of the crown upon the monarch's head. Other than that, the king will be

Starting point is 00:07:18 sitting elsewhere. For years, the Scots demanded the return of the Stone of Scone to Scotland, which finally happened in 1996. However, its return was predicated that it be used in any future coronation ceremonies. The actual coronation, aka putting the crown on the king's head, will involve several objects which are collectively known as the crown jewels. They include jewel-encrusted swords, an orb, spurs, bracelets, and other objects, which only ever see use during coronation ceremonies. There are two objects in particular that Charles will hold in his hands, an orb and a scepter. The sovereign's orb is a golden jewel-incrusted ball with a cross on the top,

Starting point is 00:07:57 which is held in the monarch's left hand during the coronation. The orb weighs 1.07 kilograms or 2.4 pounds. In his other hand will be held the scepter. There are six sceptors in the collection, but the main one which is used during the ceremony is called the sovereign sceptre with cross. There are two crowns which are used during the ceremony. The first of which is the crown of St. Edward. St. Edward's crown is named after St. Edward the Confessor, a king of England.

Starting point is 00:08:25 The original crown was destroyed after the execution of Charles I by Oliver Cromwell, and the current crown was recreated for Charles II after the restoration of the monarchy in 166. The gold crown is 12 inches tall and weighs 5 pounds and is made of solid gold. There are four arches at the top with a purple velvet cloth under the arches, and it is adorned with 444 precious stones. It's really heavy, so not every monarch has used this crown during their coronation ceremony. The only monarchs who have actually used the crown are Charles II, James II, William III, George V, George the 6th, and Elizabeth II, and now of course Charles III.

Starting point is 00:09:05 The St. Edward's crown is usually only used during the coronation itself, which means that it was last used in 1953. It's possible that King Charles will never wear the crown again after this ceremony. The second crown used by the monarch after the coronation is called the Imperial State Crown. It was created in 1937 and is slightly smaller and lighter than St. Edward's Crown. This is the crown that the monarch traditionally wears during the opening of Parliament. The crown has a whopping 2,901 precious stones, including the literal crown jewel, the Cullinand two diamond, which is 317.4 carrots, or 63.48 grams. It also has such noteworthy gems as the St. Edward Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Princess Ruby.

Starting point is 00:09:52 Charles is not the only person being crowned. His wife, Camilla, will also be crowned as queen. As I've mentioned in previous episodes, there is only one type of king in the United Kingdom. a king monarch. However, there are three types of queens, a queen monarch, a queen consort, and a queen dowager. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, you constantly heard Camilla referred to as the queen consort. That's because for the last seven years, whenever someone referred to the queen, they were referring to a queen monarch. And there was a need to clarify that while the titles were the same, the roles were very different. Prince Philip was not crowned during Queen Elizabeth's coronation because there is no equivalent role for a male consort of a female monarch.

Starting point is 00:10:36 After the crown is placed upon the head of the king, it is traditionally followed by members of the nobility, kneeling before the monarch pledging their loyalty. However, for this ceremony, the only person who will publicly pledge their loyalty will be Charles's son, William the Prince of Wales. Sometime, probably in the next year, there might be a separate investiture ceremony for William as Prince of Wales at Carnarvon Castle in Wales. In the background of everything taking place during the coronation will be music. Some of the music will be very traditional. For example, during the actual anointing,

Starting point is 00:11:09 Zadok the Priest by George Friedrich Kondel will be played. That piece was actually written by Handel for the coronation of King George II in 1727. When Charles arrives at Westminster Abbey, a special coronation march will be played written by Patrick Doyle, the composer who did the score for many films, including several Harry Potter movies. An anthem for the coronation, titled Make a Joyful Noise, was composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Starting point is 00:11:34 There will be a wide spectrum of music performed during the ceremony, which includes a mix of traditional music, as well as music from contemporary composers. Regardless of what your personal opinions on the institution of monarchy might be, the coronation of a British monarch isn't something that happens every day. It's one of the few ancient traditions which has survived into the modern world, and one of the few opportunities, for pomp and ceremony. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Thor Thompson and Peter Bennett. I just want to thank everyone, including the show's producers, who support the show over on Patreon.

Starting point is 00:12:13 If you'd like to support the show, just head over to patreon.com, which is currently the only place where you can get show merchandise. Also, if you want to talk to other listeners about the show, head over to our Facebook group or Discord server, both of which have links in the show notes.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - British Coronation Traditions

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