Many details of the coronation ceremonies of England’s kings and queens date back to the Liber Regalis, written in the 1300s.
This work, which means “Royal Book” in Latin, is thought to have been prepared for the coronation of King Richard II’s wife, Queen Anne or King Edward II. The book explains to clergy and royal officials how to perform a coronation and what to use in the ceremony.
King Charles III will sit on the Coronation Throne, where all monarchs have sat for 727 years, at the ceremony to be held on May 6th. Under the throne, where 38 monarchs have been crowned since King Edward I, is the Scone stone, whose coronation dates back to earlier times.
The Scone stone, in which Scottish monarchs were crowned in years dating back to the 11th century, was brought to London from Scone Cathedral in Scotland in the late 1200s by Edward I and placed in the section below the throne.
Abu Said’s ruby adorns the Imperial State Crown
According to a statement from Buckingham Palace, the coronation of King Charles will be shorter and more modern than that of previous monarchs, but traditional elements will not be neglected.
The most important element of the ceremony is the crown. During the ceremony, the monarch will wear two crowns and his wife a crown.
The Crown of St Edward, which will be put on King Charles’s head by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of his coronation, can actually be worn only once in a lifetime by a monarch. The crown, which is worn only at this ceremony, cannot be taken outside of Westminster Cathedral. Like the Coronation Throne, the crown for Edward I was dissolved and destroyed by the republicans with the deposition of Charles I.
However, when the kingdom was re-established 11 years later, King Charles II ordered a similar crown to be made. Used by all monarchs since 1660, the Crown of St. Edward is made entirely of gold and precious stones and weighs over 2 kilograms.
After wearing the St. Edward’s Crown, the first of which was destroyed after King Charles I, and the second commissioned by King Charles II, Charles 3, who will become the king religiously and officially, will leave the cathedral by wearing the Imperial State Crown while returning to the palace after the ceremony.
The most valuable piece of this crown, decorated with approximately 2,900 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and 4 rubies, is the 170-carat Black Prince ruby. Yakut came to England in the 15th century from the Emir of Granada in Spain, Abu Said, to the Spanish King of Castile, and from there, through Prince Edward, the eldest son of King Edward III, known as the “Black Prince” in return for military cooperation.
At the ceremony, Queen Camilla will wear the Crown of Queen Mary, while the Crown of Scotland, the oldest royal crown in the country, will not be worn as it has been since 1651, but will be present at the ceremony.
The Crown of Scotland was hung for the last time by Charles II, who was crowned king in Scotland in 1651, then re-established the monarchy in England in 1660, as the monarchy was abolished in England in 1649.
It will carry accessories that symbolize earthly and spiritual power.
During the ceremony, the King’s chest, forehead and hands will be rubbed with holy oil produced in Jerusalem. The crowned King will carry two scepters on the throne with a cross and a dove, representing earthly power and spiritual power.
After the coronation ceremony, the King will wear the Imperial State Crown and Imperial Robe in place of the holy robes and the St. Edward’s Crown. At this point, the king will carry the globe representing Christianity instead of the scepter symbolizing the spiritual power he carries in his left hand.
The Staff of St. Edward, which is unknown for what it was used for, will also be carried on arrival and return to the ceremony. The golden scepter, which was melted together with the royal jewels, which was completely destroyed by the Republicans after King Charles I, was rebuilt 11 years later when the kingdom was re-established.
The scepter, which was unknown at the time and why it was used, has been carried in the coronation parade since 1660.