The Regalia

A page detailing the symbols of Sovereignty at the Coronation

Introduction

On the evening before a coronation, the Regalia is brought from the Tower of London with an escort of the Household Cavalry and delivered into the custody of the Dean of Westminster for the night. This tradition is in remembrance of the fact that until the Civil War part of the coronation regalia was in the permanent keeping of the Abbots and then the Dean of Westminster and was kept in the Pyx Chamber.

*The Procession of the Regalia, 1911, Sir Benjamin Stone*

On the arrival of the Regalia at the Abbey it is placed in the Jerusalem Chamber, where it is guarded by the Yeomen of the Guard throughout the night. On the following morning, the Regalia is carried in procession by the Dean and Canons, accompanied by the choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal and by the King’s Scholars of Westminster School, from the Jerusalem Chamber to the High Altar. There the Imperial Crown is laid upon the Altar, while the rest of the Regalia with St. Edward’s Crown is carried to the West Door of the Abbey, where it is delivered to those who are appointed to carry it in the procession at the opening of the Coronation Service.

Up to the Coronation of King William IV in 1831, the Deans and Canons proceeded with the Regalia to Westminster Hall, where the Sovereign awaited their coming. He had previously spent the night within the Palace of Westminster, and earlier in the morning had been solemnly enthroned by the peers on the King’s Bench. This ceremony, which dated back to the earliest times, was really the election of the Sovereign by the second estate of the Realm, just as later within the Abbey church the Sovereign is “elected” at the Recognition by the first and third estates. Then, the Regalia having been brought, the Procession was formed and proceeded by foot along the north side of the Abbey chanting hymns and psalms.

Unfortunately, this most interesting survival was given up at the Coronation of King William IV and has not since revived. In its place the various processions are marshalled in a temporary annexe which is erected at the West Door of the Abbey.

The Procession

For the duration of the Procession, punctuated by the strains of Hubert Parry’s Anthem “I was glad,” The King wears the Robe of State which consists of a cape of ermine and a long train made of crimson velvet. On his head is the Cap of Maintenance edged with ermine. He is supported on each side by two Bishops. It is a curious instance of conservatism that the two Bishops are those of Durham and of Bath and Wells, who happened to be present at the Coronation of King Richard I.

**The Cap of Maintenance**

A cap of red velvet with ermine trim and gold tassel. It was granted to both Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII by the Bishop of Rome as a mark of special privilege.

The Anointing

It is not until the Sovereign has been hallowed that he is to be invested with the royal robes and the royal insignia, culminating with the Crown. During preparations for this most solemn ceremony, the choir sing ‘Zadok the Priest.’ This anthem, now and since King George II’s coronation sung to Handel’s setting, has almost always been sung at this point in the Service. In the meanwhile, the Dean of Westminster has brought the gold Ampulla from the Altar and, pouring from it some Holy Oil into the 12th century richly ornamented Anointing Spoon.

**The Ampulla**

A vessel cast in the form of an eagle with outspread wings, on a domed and foliate base, and a foot chased with auricular scrolls and masks. The head of the eagle screws off, and there is an aperture in the beak for pouring the oil. Supplied the Coronation of King Charles II in 1661.

**The Anointing Spoon**

A silver gilt spoon with an oval bowl, divided into two lobes, engraved with acanthus scrolls. The spoon is first recorded in 1349 as preserved among St Edward's Regalia in Westminster Abbey.

The Investiture

Then follows the investment with royal robes and royal insignia. It is a curious fact that the sword with which the King is girded has always been described in the rubric since the time of Queen Anne as having a “scabbard of purple velvet” and is often called the Sword of State. As a matter of fact, the sword which is used now is the beautiful jewelled sword and scabbard which was specially made for the Coronation of King George IV. It is important to remember that the significance of the girding is that the sword is brought from the Altar by the Archbishop, assisted by other Bishops, not to indicate that the King is head of the Armed Forces, but that he may use it in the service of God.

**The Jewelled Sword of Offering**

The sword is delivered to the King with the injunction that it should be used for the protection of good and the punishment of evil. Supplied for the Coronation of King George IV in 1821.

The King is then invested with the “Robe Royal” of cloth of gold, and then one by one the Regalia are delivered to him.

First, he is presented with the Orb typifying independent sovereignty under the Cross. The Orb has a curious history. In early times the cross which now surmounts it was elongated into a kind of sceptre and was in fact interchangeable with what is now known as the Sceptre with the Cross. This early form of the Orb appears on many of the medieval Great Seals, and also in the famous contemporary portrait of Richard II which hangs by the Altar in Westminster Abbey. When, however, Archbishop Sancroft revised the service for the Coronation of King James II, he apparently did not realise this fact, and at that coronation and at all subsequent coronations the Orb and the Sceptre have both been delivered to the Sovereign.

**The Sovereign’s Orb**

The Orb symbolises the King’s power and Christ’s dominion over the world, with the cross mounted on a globe and bands of jewels dividing it up into three sections representing the continents known in medieval times.

The result has been that as soon as the Orb is delivered to the Sovereign he has to give it back again to the Dean of Westminster, in order that the may have both hands free for the for the delivery of the two Sceptres which follows immediately after the ring has been placed upon his finger.

**The Sovereign’s Ring**

Placed on the fourth finger of the King, by the Archbishop, it is a symbol of kingly dignity. Since the thirteenth century the ruby has been the principal stone.

**The Sovereign’s Sceptre with the Cross**

The Sceptre with the Cross symbolises the King’s temporal power. It was supplied for the Coronation of King Charles II.

**The Sovereign’s Sceptre with the Dove**

The Sceptre with the Dove represents the King’s ecclesiastical role, the dove symbolising the Holy Ghost. It was supplied for the Coronation of King Charles II.

The Crowning

All is now in readiness for what has come to be the central moment in the service. The Archbishop goes to the Altar and, taking the Crown of St. Edward inn his hands, says the dedicatory prayer. It is the peculiar privilege of the Dean of Westminster, as of the Abbots of Westminster before him, to bring the Crown from the Altar, and from him the Archbishop takes it and “reverently puts it upon the King’s head.” No one who will be present at that supreme moment will ever forget it.