The British royal family recently observed the first anniversary of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 a year ago. She was succeeded by her son who was crowned King Charles III on May 6, almost 70 years after his mother’s coronation in June, 1953.
King Charles III was crowned in the medieval Westminster Abbey and arrived wearing the Robe of State, made of red velvet with a long velvet train and ermine cape. The robe was worn over a cream silk overshirt, naval trousers and purple Coronation Tunic. Both the shirt and tunic were especially created by Tunbull and Asser and Ede and Ravenscroft to be worn as the King left the Abbey.
For the crowning, Charles wore a long gold-sleeved robe called the Supertunica, made made from cloths of gold embroidered with flowers. Weighing 2 kgs it featured silkthread wrapped in thin pieces of gold and silver. Over the top he wore the gold cloth Imperial Mantle originally made for George IV in 1821.
As he sat in the 700 year old gilded oak coronation chair, Charles was given an orb, a sword and a spectre and had the St Edwards Crown placed on his head. The crown incorporated a solid gold frame weighing five pounds and was set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topaz and tourmaline gems. It featured a purple velvet cap and ermine band.
Used for the crowning of kings and queens in the United Kingdom, the St Edwards Crown traces its beginnings back to 1661,when the Royal Goldsmith, Robert Vyner, was commissioned to design a crown for the coronation of King Charles II, replacing an original crown first discovered in the tomb of the 11th– century saint, Edward the Confessor in 1163.
In the double coronation, the Queen consort, Camilla, wore a long ivory Peau de Soie silk dress with a front pleat and train that fell behind. Designed by Bruce Oldfield, the V neckline dress was embellished by wildflowers, accented by an intertwining of antique gold and silver thread. Embroidered gold thistle, rose and shamrock motifs appeared on the border of the long sleeves and at the hem of the dress which was worn with matching silk shoes designed by Elliot Zed.
Camilla wore a repurposed crown originally designed for Queen Mary in 1911. The silver framed crown was set with around 2000 diamonds, both brilliant-cut and rose-cut and featured a purple velvet cap and ermine band.
Reflecting on the death of his mother, the Queen and his accession, King Charles III recalled “with great affection, her long life, devoted service and all she means to so many of us.”
Monarch of 15 realms when she died, Queen Elizabeth II had reigned for over 70 years, the longest verified reign of any female head of state in history.
The young Elizabeth had been groomed for the role of future monarch after her father King George acceded to the throne in 1936. In1947 she married the former prince of Greece and Denmark, Phillip Mountbatten. The couple were in Kenya on a Commonwealth Tour in 1952 when a 25 year old Princess Elizabeth received the news that her father had died. She immediately became queen and was officially crowned on June 2, 1953.
Elizabeth and Phillip had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Prince Phillip was the longest serving British consort and passed away in 2021 at the age of 99.
The passing of the Queen on September 8, 2022 was marked by an official 10 day period of mourning throughout the United Kingdom.
Around 33,000 people filed past the Queen lying in state in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh from September 12-13. From September 14-19 in London, some 250,000 people queued to pay their respects as the late monarch laid in state in Westminster Hall. The queue at one time stood at 4.9 miles.
The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey was held on September 19, 2022 and was attended by the Royal Family, heads of states, overseas government representatives, foreign royal families, governors general and Realm prime ministers. Mourners also included representatives of the Realms and Commonwealth, the Government, Parliament, the Church, recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross and Her Majesty’s patronages.
Thankyou Channel 9 for allowing me to use of stills of the televised coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
