
The Coronation Chair, also known as St Edward's Chair or King Edward's Chair, is an ancient wooden chair that is used by
British monarch
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British con ...
s when they are invested with
regalia
Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...
and crowned at
their coronation. The chair was commissioned in 1296 by
King Edward I of England to house the
Stone of Scone, the symbol of royal authority in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Since 1308, it has been used at every
coronation
A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
of
English and
British Monarchs at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. The coronation chair is arguably the most valuable and revered piece of furniture in the world. The chair was named after
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
, and is currently kept in St George's Chapel at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
It was last used by
King Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
at his
coronation
A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
in 2023.
History
King Edward I of England seized the Stone of Scone, the traditional coronation seat of the Scottish kings, from
Scone Abbey in
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
in 1296. Edward brought the Stone to England and commissioned the Coronation Chair to hold it. The high-backed,
Gothic-style armchair was carved from oak at some point between the summer of 1297 and March 1300 by the carpenter
Walter of Durham. At first, the king ordered the chair to be made of bronze, but he changed his mind and decided it should be made of timber.
[ It was originally covered in gilding and coloured glass, much of which has now been lost. The chair is the oldest dated piece of English furniture made by a known artist.] Although it was not originally intended to be a coronation chair, it began to be associated with coronations of English monarchs at some point in the 14th century, and the first coronation where it was definitely used was that of Henry IV in 1399. Monarchs used to sit on the Stone of Scone itself until a wooden platform was added to the chair in the 17th century.[
When William III and ]Mary II
Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...
became joint monarchs in 1689, they required two coronation chairs for the ceremony. William III used the original 13th-century chair, while a second chair was made for Mary II, which still resides in the abbey's collections.
Gilded lions added in the 16th century form the legs to the chair; they were all replaced in 1727. One of the four lions was given a new head for the coronation of George IV in 1821. The chair itself was originally gilded, painted and inlaid with glass mosaics, traces of which are visible upon inspection of the chair, especially on the back where outlines of foliage, birds and animals survive. A lost image of a king, maybe Edward the Confessor or Edward I, with his feet resting on a lion was also painted on the back. Today, its appearance is of aged and brittle wood.
In the 18th century, tourists could sit on the chair for a small payment to one of the vergers. Tourists, choirboys and boys of Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
carved their initials, names and other graffiti into the chair, and the corner posts have been acutely damaged by souvenir hunters. Nails have often been driven into the wood to attach fabric for coronations, and in preparation for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, the chair was covered with a coating of brown paint. Sir Gilbert Scott, the Gothic revival architect and antiquary, described the chair as "a magnificent piece of decoration, but sadly mutilated".[
At 5:40pm on 11 June 1914, the chair was the object of a bomb attack thought to have been organised by the ]Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s. A corner of the chair was broken off in the explosion. Although it was strong enough to shake the abbey walls and loud enough to be heard from inside the Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
, none of the 70 people in the abbey at the time was injured, and the Coronation Chair was faithfully restored.
Over the eight centuries of its existence, the chair has only been removed from Westminster Abbey twice. The first time was for the ceremony in Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...
when Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
was inducted as Lord Protector
Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
of the Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...
. The second was during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when, concerned about the risk of it being damaged or destroyed by German air raids, it was moved out of London. On 24 August 1939, the Stone of Scone was moved out of the way and the chair was loaded on a truck and, with two detectives accompanying the driver, it was driven to Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...
where the Dean and the Cathedral Architect signed for its receipt. The next day, five carpenters arrived to shore up the roof of a vaulted recess in the cathedral's crypt with timber supports. Once they had finished their work, the chair was moved into the recess. As it also provided the best protected location, the cathedral's 13th-century bog-oak effigy of Robert Curthose
Robert Curthose ( – February 1134, ), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy as Robert II from 1087 to 1106.
Robert was also an unsuccessful pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" ...
was placed on the chair.[ Sandbags were then used to seal off the recess. The chair remained there for the duration of the war.][ Meanwhile the chair used for the coronation of Mary II was relocated from Westminster Abbey to ]Winchester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...
for safekeeping.[
On ]Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
1950, Scottish nationalists broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone of Scone, damaging the stone. It was recovered in time for Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
's coronation in 1953.
In 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland, since when it has been kept at Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
on the proviso that it be returned to England for use at coronations (as happened for the coronation of King Charles III in 2023).[ (In 2024 the stone was relocated to a Perth Museum). In 1997, the year after the removal of the stone, the chair was removed from its traditional home in the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor and placed by the tomb of King Henry V. In 2010 the chair was moved to a chapel at the back of the Nave for cleaning, where it has since remained (when not in use).]
The Coronation Chair is now highly protected, and leaves its secure location—behind glass on a plinth in St George's Chapel in the nave—only when it is carried into the theatre of coronation near the High Altar of the abbey. Between 2010 and 2012, the chair was cleaned and restored by a team of experts in full view of the public at the abbey. In early 2023, a further programme of restoration and conservation was undertaken in preparation for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla; on 6 May 2023, the stone having been reunited with the chair for the occasion, the King was seated on it for his anointing, investiture and crowning.
Other chairs used at the coronation
Other chairs are used by the monarch (and consort) for different parts of the coronation ceremony. Chairs of Estate for the sovereign and consort are placed on the south side of the sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
: these are used during the first part of the service, prior to the sovereign's anointing and crowning with St Edward's Crown
St Edward's Crown is the coronation crown of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13t ...
. Later, for the enthronement (and the homage which follows it), the monarch is seated not in the Coronation Chair, but in a separate Throne
A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
on a dais
A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)[dais]
in the Random House Dictionary< ...
positioned in the middle of the crossing. On occasions when the wife of a king—a queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...
—is crowned, a similar throne is provided for her so that she can be seated next to the king but at a lower level.
Unlike the Coronation Chair, these other chairs and thrones have tended to be made new for each coronation. For the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, however, older chairs were reconditioned:
* The Chairs of Estate had originally been made in 1953 on the occasion of the Coronation of Elizabeth II (since which time they had stood on the dais in the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
).
* The Thrones had originally been made for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
The coronation of the British monarch, coronation of George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth, as King of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realm, ...
in 1937.
All four were restored and given new heraldic embroidery, as appropriate, prior to the coronation in May 2023.
Afterwards, the Chairs of Estate were returned to the dais in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace. This room also contains other chairs from past coronations, including:
* Queen Victoria's coronation Throne of 1837
* The Thrones used at the coronation of George V and Mary (1911)
* The Chairs of Estate from the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth (1937)
The 1953 Throne from the coronation of Elizabeth II is kept in the Garter Throne Room of Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
; while the 1902 Thrones from the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra are on the dais in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace. A pair of Chairs of Estate (made for the 1902 coronation), which are usually kept in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, have in recent years been employed when the monarch has addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...
.
See also
* Chair of St Peter
* List of chairs
* Westminster Stone theory
Notes
References
Sources
*
External links
History of the Coronation Chair
at Westminster Abbey
{{Coronation of the British monarch, state=collapsed
1296 works
Coronations of British monarchs
Individual chairs
English royalty
Edward I of England
Westminster Abbey
Material culture of royal courts
Edward the Confessor
Stone of Scone
Individual models of furniture