Albania King Zog I, self-proclaimed monarch of
Albania, was ritually crowned on 1 September 1928. His coronation attire included rose-colored breeches, gold spurs, and a gold crown weighing . Europe's only
Muslim king swore a required constitutional oath on the Bible and the
Qur'an, symbolizing his desire to unify his country. Zog was forced into exile by Italian invaders in 1939, and the monarchy was formally abolished in 1945.
Austria Emperors of Austria were never crowned (unlike their predecessors in the
Holy Roman Empire), as a coronation was not viewed as being necessary to legitimize their rule in that country. However, they were crowned in some of the kingdoms within the
Austrian Empire.
Ferdinand I was crowned as
King of Hungary with the
Crown of Saint Stephen in 1830, as
King of Bohemia with the
Crown of Saint Wenceslas in 1836, and as King of
Lombardy and Venetia with the
Iron Crown of Lombardy in 1838. After the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Emperors of Austria were only crowned as King of Hungary (again with the Crown of Saint Stephen):
Franz-Joseph I in 1867 and
Charles I (as Charles IV of Hungary) in 1916.
Belgium Following the
Belgian Revolution from 1830 to 1831 and the subsequent establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium from the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Leopold I and his successors have never been crowned in a coronation rite. Belgium has no regalia such as crowns (except as a heraldic emblem); the monarch's formal installation requires only a solemn oath to "abide by the Constitution and the laws of the Belgian people, maintain the country’s independence and preserve its territory" before members of the two chambers of parliament. During the enthronement of
Baudouin, one legislator,
Julien Lahaut, cried "Vive la République", only to be shouted down by others, who cried "Vive le Roi", with the entire chamber rising to applaud the King. Lahaut was found dead a week later. During the enthronement of
Albert II, one legislator,
Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, cried "Leve de republiek, Vive la république européenne, Vive Lahaut!" Van Rossem was also shouted down by the others, but did not suffer the same fate as Lahaut.
Bohemia in 1836
Vratislaus II of Bohemia was the first crowned ruler of Bohemia. During the
Middle Ages, it was held that enthronement would make a person
Duke of Bohemia and that only coronation would make a person
King of Bohemia.
St. Vitus Cathedral was the coronation church. Monarchs of Bohemia were crowned with the
Crown of Saint Wenceslas and invested with royal insignia, among which a cap or mitre and a lance (symbols of
Saint Wenceslas) were specific for Bohemian coronations.
Maria Theresa, the only
female monarch of Bohemia, was crowned king in order to emphasize that she was the monarch and not consort. The last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such was Emperor
Ferdinand of Austria. The abbess of the
St. George's Abbey had the privilege to crown the
wife of the King of Bohemia. but it has been proposed that he was crowned in the monastery of
Mile, where most Bosnian coronations were held, with a crown sent by King
Louis I of Hungary. Tvrtko I's coronation served as an example for subsequent such rites. The coronation was sometimes delayed, but monarchs could exercise full authority immediately after their election. The last coronation in Bosnia was held in
St. Mary's Church in
Jajce, November 1461. Although all kings of Bosnia were at least formally Roman Catholic, only the last king,
Stephen Tomašević, was crowned with the Pope's approval and with a crown sent by
Pope Pius II. The coronation was performed by the papal legate.
Byzantine Empire Building on the largely impromptu and informal acclamation of the
Roman emperors, the
Byzantine Empire gradually developed a complex coronation ritual. Initially taking place in public at the
Hippodrome of Constantinople, by the 7th century coronations took place in a church, most often the
Hagia Sophia cathedral, with the
Patriarch of Constantinople playing a significant role in the ceremony. The ceremony became standardized thereafter, with minor changes during the remainder of the Empire's history. Byzantine practice was emulated elsewhere, notably by the Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian monarchs.
Croatia . The Trpimirović dynasty was a native
Croatian dynasty that ruled in the
Duchy and later the
Kingdom of Croatia from 845 until 1091, with interruptions by the
Domagojević dynasty. The first monarch of Croatia was
King Tomislav, crowned in 925. A note in the proceedings of the 925
Council of Split calls Tomislav king "in the province of the Croats and in the Dalmatian regions" (
in prouintia Croatorum et Dalmatiarum finibus Tamisclao rege), and in the council's 12th
canon, the ruler of the Croats is called "king" (
rex et proceres Chroatorum). In a letter from
Pope John X, Tomislav is called "King of the Croats" (
Tamisclao, regi Crouatorum). Older historiography assumed that Tomislav was crowned in a field at Duvno (near
Tomislavgrad), although there are no contemporary records. This conclusion was probably drawn from the
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, which describes a coronation of King Svatopluk (Budimir in a later version of the
chronicle) and a council held in a field at
Dalma. Some historians theorized that Tomislav and Svatopluk were the same person, or the author was mistaken about the king's name. Prominent rulers of the Trpimirović Dynasty include Tomislav,
Petar Krešimir IV and
Demetrius Zvonimir. The house included four
dukes, thirteen
kings and a
queen consort. In 1091 the last member of the
House of Trpimirović, Stephen II, died without leaving an heir. In 1093 the Croatian nobility chose
Petar Snačić as King of Croatia. Petar Snačić fought the war against the invasion of the Hungarian King, and died in the
Battle of Gvozd Mountain in 1097. This led to a
personal union of Croatia and Hungary in 1102. In practice, Croatia was ruled by a Ban (a viceroy) who was commonly from a Croatian noble house. It was agreed that every King of Hungary would come to Croatia for a separate coronation as King of Croatia. The last king to be crowned in Croatia was
King Andrew II of Hungary. His son,
King Béla IV, refused to be crowned in Croatia in 1235, and the custom afterward died out. Some scholars claim Béla IV's father was never crowned as King of Croatia either. In 1941,
Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta, was installed as King by
fascist Italy. No coronation was ever held. In 1660 the coronation ritual was replaced with a ceremony of
anointing: the new king would arrive at the coronation site already wearing the crown, and he was then anointed. This rite was in turn abolished with the introduction of the Danish Constitution in 1849. Today the
crown of Denmark is only displayed at the monarch's funeral, when it lies on top of their coffin. The former Queen,
Margrethe II, and her son, the present king,
Frederik X, did not have any formal enthronement service; a public announcement of the accession was made from the balcony of
Christiansborg Palace, with the new sovereign being acclaimed by the Prime Minister at the time, then cheered with a ninefold "hurrah" by the crowds below.
France and
Blanche of Castile at
Reims in 1223; a
miniature from the
Grandes Chroniques de France, circa 1450. Following perhaps the Byzantine or Visigothic formula, the French coronation ceremony called
Sacre primarily included the
anointing or
unction of the king. It was first held in
Soissons in 752 for the
Carolingian king
Pepin the Short to legitimise his deposition of the last of the
Merovingian kings, who had been elected by an assembly of nobles inside the royal family and according to hereditary rules. A second coronation of Pepin by
Pope Stephen II took place at the
Basilica of St Denis in 754; this is the first recorded by a Pope. The unction served as a reminder of the baptism of king
Clovis I in
Reims by archbishop
Saint Remi in 496/499, where the ceremony was finally transferred in 816 and completed with the use of the
Holy Ampulla found in 869 in the grave of the saint. Since this Roman glass vial, containing the
balm due to be mixed with
chrism, was allegedly brought by the dove of the
Holy Spirit, the French monarchs claimed to receive their power by divine right. The French coronation ritual was similar to that used in England, from 925 and above all 1066, with the coronation of
William the Conqueror. The
last royal coronation was that of
Charles X, in 1825. Heirs to the French throne were also sometimes crowned during their predecessors' reigns during the
Middle Ages, but this was discontinued as laws of
primogeniture became stronger. The coronation
regalia, like the
throne and
sceptre of
Dagobert I or
crown and
sword of
Charlemagne, were kept in the
Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, and the liturgical instruments, like the
Holy Ampulla and
Chalice, in
Reims, where they are still partly preserved as well as in the
Louvre and other Parisian museums. During the
First French Empire, Emperor
Napoleon I and Empress
Josephine were crowned in December 1804 in an extremely elaborate ritual presided over by
Pope Pius VII and conducted at the
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Napoleon III chose not to be crowned. The French republican government broke up and sold off most of the
Crown Jewels, in the hope of avoiding any public sentiment for a restoration of the monarchy after the collapse of the
Second French Empire in 1871.
Germany Holy Roman Empire by
Pope Leo III. Since
Charlemagne in 800,
Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the pope until 1530, when
Charles V became the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, at Bologna. Thereafter, until the abolition of the empire in 1806, imperial coronations were held in Frankfurt and were performed by the Spiritual Princes-Electors, the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier. Later rulers simply proclaimed themselves
Electus Romanorum Imperator or "Elected Emperor of the Romans", without the formality of a coronation by the Pontiff. Coronations were held in Rome (under the pope),
Milan (the Kingdom of Italy),
Arles (Burgundy) and
Aachen (Germany). Although the Roman ceremony was initially the most important, it was eventually eclipsed by the German ritual. The custom of the emperors going to Rome to be crowned was last observed by Frederick III in 1440; after that, only the German coronation was celebrated.
Prussia King Wilhelm I was crowned in 1861 as King of
Prussia, prior to the establishment of the
German Empire (1871). He was crowned with great pomp, becoming the first king to be crowned in Prussia since the coronation of
King Friedrich I in 1701, although a significant number of politicians opposed the idea. Wilhelm I took the crown with his own hands from the altar and crowned himself while saying that he was receiving the crown from God's hands. These words were intended as a warning to Prussian Constitutionalists and Liberals. Both coronations took place at the church at
Königsberg Castle, which had been the last capital of the
Ordenstaat and capital of the
Duchy of Prussia. The King of Prussia was also
Kaiser of
Imperial Germany from 1871 to 1918. Although a design and model for a
German State Crown were made, no final diadem was ever produced, and none of the three German emperors were ever formally crowned.
Greece Although modern
Greece retains a set of
crown jewels given to its first king
Otto of Greece by his father
Ludwig I of Bavaria, no
Kings of Greece were ever crowned with them. All monarchs apart from Otto took office by a swearing-in ceremony in front of the
Hellenic Parliament until the
monarchy was abolished in 1974 by a
referendum.
Hungary taking his coronation oath Rulers of Hungary were not considered legitimate monarchs until they were crowned King of Hungary with the
Holy Crown of Hungary. As women were not considered fit to rule Hungary, the two queens regnant,
Maria I and
Maria II Theresa, were crowned
kings of Hungary. Hungarian coronations usually took place at
Székesfehérvár, the burial place of the first crowned ruler of Hungary,
Saint Stephen I, except from 1563 to 1830, when coronations took place in St. Martin's cathedral in Pozsony (now
Bratislava), because of Ottoman occupation of Székesfehérvár. The final such rite was held in
Budapest on 30 December 1916, when
Kaiser Karl I of Austria and
Empress Zita were crowned as King Károly IV and Queen Zita of Hungary. The Hungarian monarchy perished with the end of the
First World War, although the nation would later restore a titular monarchy from 1920 to 1945—while
forbidding King Károly from resuming the throne. A
communist takeover in 1945 spelled the final end of this "kingdom without a king".
Italy The modern
Kingdom of Italy, which existed from 1861 to 1946, did not crown its monarchs. The Sovereigns of the
Holy Roman Empire were crowned Kings of Italy with the famous
Iron Crown; also
Napoleon was crowned King of Italy in 1805 with this crown.
Sicily and Naples As reported by the jurisconsult
Tancredus, initially only four monarchs were crowned and anointed: they were the kings of
Jerusalem,
France,
England and
Sicily. The coronation was traditionally held in
Palermo Cathedral; then with the
split of the kingdom there were two coronations, one in
Palermo and the other in
Naples. The Pope was the only person entitled to crown the monarch of Naples. The exact coronation customs of the
Kings and Queens of Sicily are disputed. According to a Cassino manuscript of c. 1200, the coronation of the kings of Sicily was based on a German model, though variations were made to adapt it to Sicilian tradition. Several different parts were included in the coronation ceremony. First, the new monarch was asked whether he wished to be the defender of the Church and a just ruler of his kingdom. After that, the people were asked whether they wished to submit themselves to the person who was to be crowned. The king or queen was then anointed on their hands, head, chest, and shoulders. The monarch was then girded with a sword and vested with
armillas,
pallium, and a ring. The scepter was put in their right hand and the orb in their left hand. Finally, the presiding archbishop placed the crown on the monarch's head.
Liechtenstein The sovereign Princes of Liechtenstein have never undergone a coronation or enthronement ceremony, although Prince
Hans-Adam II attended a mass celebrated by the Archbishop of
Vaduz, followed by a choral display. In 1719 the Liechtenstein family finally attained the long-sought rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire and had a crown (or
ducal hat, as it is named) made of diamonds, pearls, and rubies. However, as the subsequent princes always resided in Vienna, and until modern times did not even visit their principality, the original princely crown may never have been brought there, and it is now lost. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday,
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, the first monarch of Liechtenstein to dwell in his own realm, was given a princely
coronet edged in
ermine, a replica of the original, as a gift from his people, which is kept on display in the principality. But it has never been used in a coronation nor worn by a reigning prince. Typical of princely coronets, it lacks "royal" arches, and is surmounted by a
tassel instead of a royal
orb or cross.
Lithuania The Kingdom of Lithuania was a Lithuanian state, which existed roughly from 1251 to 1263. King Mindaugas was the first and only Lithuanian monarch crowned King of Lithuania with the assent of the Pope. The formation of the Kingdom of Lithuania was a partially successful attempt at unifying all surrounding Baltic tribes, including the Old Prussians, into a single state. Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned during the summer of 1253. Bishop Henry Heidenreich of
Kulm presided over the ecclesiastical ceremonies and Andreas Stirland conferred the crown. 6 July is now celebrated as Statehood Day (Lithuanian:
Valstybės diena); it is an official holiday in modern Lithuania. The exact date of the coronation is not known; the scholarship of historian Edvardas Gudavičius, who promulgated this precise date, is sometimes challenged. The location of the coronation also remains unknown.
Luxembourg Luxembourg's sovereign
Grand Dukes have never been crowned. Instead, the sovereign is enthroned at a simple ceremony held in the nation's parliament at the beginning of his or her reign to take an oath of loyalty to the state constitution as required by the constitution. The sovereign then attends a solemn mass at the
Notre-Dame Cathedral. No crown or other regalia exists for the rulers of Europe's last sovereign
Grand Duchy.
Monaco The Principality of
Monaco does not possess any regalia and thus does not physically crown its ruler. However, the Prince or Princess does attend a special investiture ceremony, consisting of a festive mass in
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, followed by a reception where the new sovereign prince meets his people.
Netherlands The Netherlands has never physically
crowned its monarchs. The Dutch monarch, however, undergoes a "swearing-in and investiture" ceremony. Article 32 of the Dutch constitution states that as soon as the monarch assumes the royal prerogative, he is to be sworn in and inaugurated in the capital city of
Amsterdam at a public
joint session of the two houses of the
States General. This ritual is held at the
Nieuwe Kerk. Regalia such as the crown, orb, and scepter are present but are never physically given to the monarch. Instead, they are placed on cushions, on what is called a
credence table. The royal regalia surround a copy of the Dutch constitution. Two other regalia–the
sword of state and the standard of the kingdom bearing the coat of arms of the Netherlands–are carried by two senior military officers. During the ceremony, the monarch, wearing a ceremonial robe, is seated on a chair of state with his or her consort on a raised dais opposite members of the States General. The ceremony consists of two parts. In the first part, the monarch is sworn in: he takes his formal oath to uphold the kingdom's fundamental law and to protect the country with everything within his power. After the king has taken his oath, he is invested by the States General and the States of the other countries of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands: members of the States General pay
homage to the monarch. The president of the Joint Session of the States General will first make a solemn declaration; all members of the States General and members of the States of Aruba, Curaçao, and St Maarten will then, in turn, swear or affirm this declaration.
Norway and
Queen Maud of Norway wearing their coronation crowns and robes in 1906. The first coronation in Norway, and Scandinavia, took place in
Bergen in 1163 or 1164. The
Christ Church (Old Cathedral) in Bergen remained the place of coronations in Norway until the capital was moved to
Oslo under
King Haakon V. From then on some coronations were held in Oslo, but most were held in
Nidaros Cathedral in
Trondheim. On May 24, 1829, during
Congress Poland, Russian Tsar
Nicholas I crowned himself king of Poland at the
Royal Castle in
Warsaw. He was the last crowned Polish monarch. The Portuguese monarchy was abolished in 1910. João IV's coronation followed a pattern similar to the coronations of the kings of France and pre-
Reformation England, as laid out in the
Roman Pontifical. The Habsburg monarchs that preceded João IV as kings of Portugal were also not crowned; during the
Iberian Union, the practice of not having a coronation ceremony was extended to Portugal. Before the assumption of the Portuguese throne by the Habsburgs, kings of Portugal used to be anointed and crowned in the
Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, in a manner similar to the coronation of João IV. Thereafter, Portuguese monarchs have only been acclaimed.
Romania The
Kingdom of Romania used a coronation ceremony during its monarchical period (1881–1947).
Its crown was rather unusual, being made of
steel rather than
gold or some other
precious metal. In 1922,
King Ferdinand and
Queen Marie were crowned in the courtyard of the newly opened "
Coronation Cathedral" in
Alba Iulia, an important city in the new Romanian province of
Transylvania. Ferdinand crowned himself and then crowned his wife. The coronation service was interdenominational rather than
Romanian Orthodox (the majority religion and then the
state church), in part because Ferdinand was Roman Catholic, while his wife was
Anglican at the time. Ferdinand's son,
Carol II, intended to be crowned in September 1930 but abandoned his plans due to marital difficulties with his wife,
Queen Helen, which included an ongoing affair with
Magda Lupescu. Upon his abdication, his son,
Michael I, was crowned and anointed on 6 September 1940 at the
Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral in
Bucharest by
Patriarch Nicodim Munteanu.
Russia and Empress
Maria Fyodorovna in 1883 Following the tradition of the
Byzantine Emperors, the
Tsar of Russia placed the
crown upon his own head. This left no doubt that, in the Russian system, the imperial power came directly from God. The prayer of the
Metropolitan, similar to that of the
Patriarch of Constantinople for the Byzantine Emperor, confirmed the imperial supremacy. A few days prior to the crowning service itself, the Tsar made a processional entry into Moscow, where coronations were always held (even when the capital was in
St. Petersburg). Following this, the imperial
regalia were brought from the
Kremlin armory into the Tsar's Kremlin palace, where they would accompany the new emperor on his procession to the
Dormition Cathedral on the morning of his coronation. This procession commenced at the
Red Porch and ended at the church doors, where the presiding prelate and other bishops blessed the Tsar and his consort with
holy water and offered them the
Holy Cross to kiss. After the Tsar entered the cathedral, he and his spouse venerated the
icons there and took their places on two thrones set up in the center of the cathedral. After the sovereign had recited the
Nicene Creed as his profession of faith, and after an invocation of the
Holy Spirit and a
litany, the emperor assumed the purple
chlamys, and the crown was then presented to him. He took it and placed it on his head himself, while the Metropolitan recited:
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen." The Metropolitan would then make the following short address: :"
Most God-fearing, absolute, and mighty Lord, Tsar of all the Russias, this visible and tangible adornment of thy head is an eloquent symbol that thou, as the head of the whole Russian people, art invisibly crowned by the King of kings, Christ, with a most ample blessing, seeing that He bestows upon thee entire authority over His people." Following this, the new Tsar crowned his consort, first briefly with his own crown (by touching it momentarily to her head before putting it back on his own), then with a smaller crown of her own. Further prayers and litanies were read, then the Emperor was anointed just prior to the reception of
Holy Communion during the
Divine Liturgy. He was invited to enter the
altar area through the
Royal Doors (normally reserved solely to the clergy) and partake of Communion as a priest would, in both kinds. Further prayers and blessings concluded the service, which was followed by a special feast held in the Kremlin's
Palace of Facets.
Serbia immediately after his coronation The first crowned King of Serbia,
Stefan Nemanjić, was crowned twice. In 1217, he was crowned in a Roman Catholic ceremony by a papal legate with a crown sent by the Pope. However, Stefan and the Serbian people were Eastern Orthodox, so he appealed to the
Patriarch of Constantinople. The Patriarch elevated Stefan's brother
Sava to the rank of archbishop and authorized Stephan's second coronation, performed by Sava himself in 1222. His successors were also crowned kings at the monastery of
Žiča. Serbia became a part of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the
First World War, but Peter did not hold a second coronation and neither of his two successors,
Alexander and
Peter II, were crowned.
Spain No monarch of Spain has been crowned as such since
Isabella I of Castile (1474),
Ferdinand II of Aragon (1414), and
Catherine of Navarre with her husband
John III of Navarre (1494).
Joan III of Navarre was crowned as late as 1555, although she ruled Navarre beyond the Pyrenees. Instead, the new monarch takes a formal oath to uphold the Constitution at the
Cortes. Although the
crown is displayed at the ceremony, it is never actually placed on the monarch's head. Historical Castilian coronations were performed at
Toledo, or the Church of St Jerome in
Madrid, with the king being anointed by the archbishop of Toledo. Aragonese coronations were performed at
Zaragoza by the
Archbishop of Tarragona. Five days after his visit to the Cortes, King
Juan Carlos I attended an "Enthronement Mass" at the Church of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid. Accompanied by his wife
Sofia, he was escorted beneath a canopy to a set of thrones set up near the high altar. Following the service, the king and queen returned to the
palace, where they greeted the people from the balcony, reviewed troops, and attended a formal banquet.
Sweden Swedish monarchs were crowned in various cities during the 13th and 14th centuries, but from the middle of the 15th century on in either the
Cathedral in Uppsala or
Storkyrkan in Stockholm, with the exception of the coronation of
Gustav IV Adolf, which took place in Norrköping in 1800. Earlier coronations were also held at
Uppsala, the ecclesiastical center of Sweden. Prior to Sweden's change into a hereditary monarchy, the focus of the coronation rite was on legitimising an elected king. Nineteenth-century coronations of Swedish monarchs followed a rite last used during the coronation of
Oscar II in 1873: The king and queen proceeded to the Cathedral in separate processions. The king was met at the front portal by the
Archbishop of Uppsala, highest prelate in the
Church of Sweden, together with other bishops in their copes. The Archbishop greeted the king: "Blessed be he who cometh in the Name of the Lord", while the Bishop of Skara said a prayer that the king might be endowed with the grace to govern his people well. The Archbishop and bishops then escorted the king to his seat on the right-hand side of the choir, with the Royal Standard on his right side and the banner of the
Order of the Seraphim on his left. The Bishop of
Strängnäs and the rest of the bishops then awaited the approach of the queen; when she arrived the Bishop of Strängnäs greeted her with: "Blessed is she who cometh in the Name of the Lord", while the Bishop of
Härnösand said a prayer virtually identical to the one previously said for the king. The Bishop of Strängnäs and the other bishops then escorted the queen to her seat on the left-hand side of the choir where the king and queen both knelt for a few moments of private prayer while the regalia were deposited upon the altar. The Archbishop began the service by singing: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth", the normal beginning of Swedish High Mass. The Bishop of Skara recited the Creed before the altar and the hymn "Come, thou Holy Spirit, come" was sung. The
Litany and then an anthem was sung during which the king went to his throne on a dais before the altar with the Royal Standard being borne on his right and the banner of the Order of the Seraphim on his left. Following this, the Regalia was brought forward. The king's mantle and Crown Prince's coronet were removed and placed on the altar, and the kneeling king was vested in the Royal Mantle by a state minister while the Archbishop read the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John. The
Minister of Justice recited the oath to the king, which he took while laying three fingers on the Bible. Following this, the Archbishop anointed the king on his forehead, breast, temples and wrists, saying:
The Almighty everlasting God pour out His Holy Spirit into your soul and mind, plans and undertakings, by whose gift may you so rule land and kingdom as to redound to the honour and glory of God, maintain justice and equity and be for the good of the land and people. The king then rose and resumed his seat on his throne, where the Archbishop and the Minister of Justice crowned him conjointly, the Archbishop praying a prepared prayer that the king's reign might be good and prosperous. The king was then invested with the
Sceptre by Archbishop and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, while the Orb was given him by Count Hamilton, the Archbishop reading set prayers for both of these events. A Key was then delivered to the king by the Major-General of Nordin, as the Archbishop said the following prayer:
God the Almighty who of His divine providence hath raised you to this royal dignity, grant you to unlock treasures of wisdom and truth for your people, to lock out error, vices and sloth from your kingdom and to provide for the industrious prosperity and increase, relief and comfort for the suffering and afflicted. The unsheathed coronation sword was then placed in the king's hand as the Archbishop said a prayer that the king might use his power well and justly. The Archbishop returned to the altar. With the king seated on his throne, crowned and bearing the Sceptre in his right hand and the Orb in his left, the State Herald standing behind the throne now cried out:
Now has (name) been crowned king over the lands of Swedes, the Goths, and the Wends. He and no other. A hymn was then sung, following which the Archbishop said a prayer and gave the king his blessing. As a second anthem was sung, the queen now left her seat in the choir and proceeded to her throne on the dais before the altar. She knelt, was invested in her Royal Mantle, anointed by the Archbishop on her forehead and wrists, and crowned by the Archbishop. Taking her seat on her throne, she was next invested with her Sceptre and Orb, the Archbishop using the forms used for the king, but appropriately adapted for the queen. Then the State Herald, standing behind her throne, proclaimed her queen, and the choir sang "Prosperity to the Queen", followed by the singing of a hymn. The Archbishop next said a prayer similar to the one he said for the king and gave the queen his blessing. Homage was now done, following which the procession left the cathedral during the singing of the hymn, "Now thank we all our God". This rite was last used to crown
Oscar II in 1873; subsequent kings of Sweden elected not to be crowned, though there is no law or constitutional provision preventing a coronation. The current monarch,
Carl XVI Gustaf, simply took the then-required regal assurance () during a meeting of the cabinet and afterward was enthroned in a simple ceremony at the throne room of the
Royal Palace in
Stockholm on 19 September 1973. The crown jewels were displayed on cushions to the right and left of the royal throne, but were never given to the king. Carl Gustaf made an accession speech, which comprised the main purpose of the undertaking. The
coronation of the British monarch takes place at
Westminster Abbey. , which is a
Royal Peculiar (a church directly under the monarch). The monarch and their consort enter the abbey in procession and is seated on a "Chair of Estate" as the
Archbishop of Canterbury goes to the east, south, west, and north of the building asking if those present are willing to pay homage to their new sovereign. Once the attendees respond affirmatively, the Archbishop administers the Coronation Oath, and a Bible is presented by both the Archbishop (representing the Church of England) and, since 1953, the
Moderator of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland. Once this is done, the actual crowning can take place. The monarch is seated upon the ancient
Coronation Chair, which would include the Scottish
Stone of Scone (kept in
Edinburgh Castle when not in use). A canopy is held over the sovereign's head, while the Archbishop anoints him or her with holy oil on the hands, breast, and head, concluding with a special blessing. Spurs and the
Sword of State are presented, followed by the
Sovereign's Orb (which is immediately returned to the altar), the
Sceptre with the Dove and the
Sceptre with the Cross. Once this is done, the Archbishop of Canterbury places the
Crown of St. Edward upon the monarch's head. If a
queen consort is present, she is crowned shortly afterward in a similar but shorter and simpler ceremony. of the United Kingdom. Afterward, the sovereign is seated upon the throne and receives homage from various members of the British clergy and nobility.
Holy Communion is given to the sovereign, who then enters St. Edward's Chapel as the
Te Deum is sung, where he or she exchanges St. Edward's Crown for the lighter
Imperial State Crown and exits the abbey wearing the crown and carrying the Sceptre with the Cross and Orb as "
God Save the King (or Queen)" is sung. The ceremonies as conducted for
Elizabeth II in 1953 and
Charles III in 2023 also functioned as the coronation rite for the
realms within the Commonwealth which recognise the British monarch as head of state. In the case of the former, the text of the administered oath named the seven separate Commonwealth kingdoms in existence as the time, as well as a general statement regarding other territories. The
Prince of Wales, a title traditionally held by the heir to the British throne, may go through a ceremony of his own known as the
investiture of the Prince of Wales, though such a ritual is not required to hold this title or the privileges that come with it. The ceremony, when held, may take place in
Wales or in England (the most recent investitures took place at
Caernarvon Castle, Wales), and includes the placement of a
coronet upon the prince's head.
England :
This section describes coronations held in England prior to its unification with Scotland. For coronations after that time, see below under "United Kingdom". at Westminster in 1399
Westminster Abbey has long been England's coronation church since 1066. From
William the Conqueror through to
Charles III, all except two monarchs have been crowned in the
Abbey. Following the start of the reformation in
England, the boy king
Edward VI had been crowned in the first Protestant coronation in 1547, during which Archbishop
Thomas Cranmer preached a sermon against idolatry and "the tyranny of the bishops of Rome". However, six years later, he was succeeded by his half-sister Mary I, who restored the Roman Catholic rite. In 1559,
Elizabeth I underwent the last English coronation under the auspices of the Catholic Church; however,
Elizabeth's insistence on changes to reflect her Protestant beliefs resulted in several bishops refusing to officiate at the service and it was conducted by the low-ranking bishop of Carlisle,
Owen Oglethorpe. After the
Union of the Crowns in 1603 England and Scotland shared the same monarch.
Scotland :
This section describes coronations held in Scotland prior to its unification with England. For coronations after that time, see below under "United Kingdom". on
Moot Hill,
Scone. He is being greeted by the
ollamh rígh, the royal poet. Kings of
Scotland were crowned at
Scone Abbey, in the town of
Scone, a few miles north of
Perth. Prior to 1296, the king was seated upon the famed
Stone of Scone throughout the ceremony; this was considered an essential element of the ritual. Following the removal of the stone to England by
Edward I, coronations continued to be staged at the abbey or at
Stirling. The
Honours of Scotland, the oldest Crown jewels in Britain, were used in all coronation ceremonies up to that of
Charles II, the final king to be crowned in Scotland. One feature of Scottish coronations was the
ollamh rígh, or royal poet, who addressed the new monarch with
Beannachd Dé Rígh Alban, or "God Bless the King of Scotland". The poet went on to recite the monarch's
genealogy back to the first ever
Scotsman. It was traditional in
Gaelic-speaking cultures like Scotland that a king's legitimacy be established by recitation of the royal pedigree. Scottish rulers did not necessarily have to wait for any certain age to be crowned:
Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned at nine months of age, while her son,
James VI, was
crowned at thirteen months. Mary's father,
James V, was barely seventeen months of age at the time of his coronation. The last Scottish coronation was at Scone in 1651 for King
Charles II. After the unification with England in 1707, the Scottish coronation rite, with that of the English rite, was subsumed into the British.
The Vatican From 1305 to 1963
popes were crowned with the
papal tiara in a
coronation ceremony in
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Following the decision of the last crowned pope,
Paul VI, to lay the papal tiara on the
high altar of the basilica as a symbol of humility, the next four popes declined to wear it, and instituted a ceremony of
papal inauguration rather than a formal coronation. While the popes
John Paul I,
John Paul II (who also completely abandoned the use of the
sedia gestatoria, a portable throne),
Benedict XVI,
Francis and
Leo XIV opted for an inauguration instead of a coronation, any future pope can, in theory, opt for the coronation ritual. == See also ==