by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

• Read more about what happens When the British Monarch Dies.

After a period of mourning, the new monarch is usually consecrated and crowned in Westminster Abbey. Normally, the Archbishop of Canterbury officiates, although the monarch may designate any other bishop of the Church of England. A coronation is not necessary for a monarch to reign. King Edward VIII was never crowned, yet during his short reign was the undoubted king. The length of time between accession and coronation varies. Below are the dates for accessions and coronations since Queen Victoria.

• Queen Victoria: Accession – June 20, 1837; Coronation – June 28, 1838
• King Edward VII: Accession – June 22, 1901; Coronation – August 9, 1902 (Coronation was scheduled for June 26, 1902, but was postponed because the king had an appendectomy on June 24, 1902.)
• King George V: Accession – May 6, 1910; Coronation – June 22, 1911
• King Edward VIII: Accession – January 20, 1936; No coronation, but it had been scheduled for May 12, 1937
• King George VI: Accession – December 11, 1936; Coronation – May 12, 1937 (Preparations had been underway for Edward VIII’s coronation, so the date and the preparations were passed on the George VI)
• Queen Elizabeth II: Accession – February 6, 1952; Coronation – June 2, 1953
• King Charles III: Accession – September 8, 2022; Coronation – May 6, 2023

The United Kingdom is the only European kingdom that still has coronations. The other kingdoms that still crown their rulers are Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Thailand, and Tonga.

Practices in other European kingdoms:

• Belgium: The monarch’s formal installation requires only a solemn oath on the constitution in parliament symbolizing the limited power allowed to the monarch under the 1831 Constitution. Belgium has no crown or regalia.
• Denmark: Coronation was abolished with the introduction of the Danish Constitution in 1849. The public announcement of a monarch’s accession is made from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace, with the new monarch being acclaimed by her Prime Minister. The crown of Denmark is only displayed at the monarch’s funeral when it lies on top of the coffin.
• Liechtenstein: Traditionally, the Sovereign Prince attends a mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Vaduz, followed by a choral display.
• Luxembourg: The Grand Duke or Grand Duchess of Luxembourg is enthroned at a ceremony held in the nation’s parliament. The Grand Duke of Grand Duchess takes an oath of loyalty to the state constitution and then attends a solemn mass at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Luxembourg has no crown or regalia.
• Monaco: The Sovereign Prince or Sovereign Princess attends a special investiture ceremony, consisting of a festive mass in Saint Nicholas Cathedral, followed by a reception where the new Sovereign Prince or Sovereign Princess meets his people. Monaco has no crown or regalia.
• The Netherlands: The Dutch monarch is sworn in and inaugurated in Amsterdam at a public joint session of the two houses of the States-General held at the Nieuwe Kerk. The crown, orb, sword of state, and scepter are placed on cushions surrounded by a copy of the Dutch constitution. During the ceremony, the monarch is seated on a throne opposite the crown, regalia, and constitution as he or she takes his formal oath to uphold the kingdom’s fundamental law and protect the country with everything within his or her power. After the monarch has taken the oath, all members of the States-General pay homage to the new monarch by taking an oath of loyalty to him or her.
• Norway: The Norwegian constitution of 1814 required the Norwegian monarch to be crowned, but this requirement was repealed in 1908. Since then, the monarch has only been required to take a formal accession oath in the Council of State and then in the Storting (parliament). King Olav V, desired a religious ceremony to mark his accession to the throne in 1957, and so he instituted a ceremony of royal consecration. This consecration took place again in 1991 when King Harald V and Queen Sonja were similarly consecrated. Both consecrations were held where the coronation rite had formerly taken place, Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
• Spain: The Spanish monarch appears at the Cortes (parliament), where he or she takes a formal oath to uphold the constitution. The crown is at the ceremony, but it is never placed on the monarch’s head.
• Sweden: The coronation rite was last used to crown King Oscar II in 1873. Subsequent monarchs of Sweden chose not to be crowned, but there is no law preventing a coronation. The current monarch King Carl XVI Gustaf, during a meeting of the cabinet, took the then-required royal assurance (in Swedish Konungaförsäkran) to fulfill the duties associated with the office and not exceed them. The Riksdag Act of 1974 no longer requires that the monarch take the royal assurance, but says the monarch “can” take the royal assurance before the Riksdag (parliament). After King Carl XVI Gustaf took the royal assurance, he was enthroned in a simple ceremony in the throne room of the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The crown jewels were displayed on cushions to the right and left of the throne but were never given to the king. From the throne, King Carl Gustaf made an accession speech.

The main elements of the coronation service and the earliest form of the oaths taken can be traced to the ceremony devised by Saint Dunstan for the coronation of Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English in 973 AD at Bath Abbey. For the order of service for the most recent coronation, see An Anglican Liturgical Library: Form and Order of the Service of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

For more information about coronations, see Unofficial Royalty: British Coronations.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

• Read more about what happens When the British Monarch Dies.

The traditional burial places of English/British monarchs since the Norman Conquest in 1066 have been Westminster Abbey in London and St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Three of the seven Norman and Angevin monarchs were buried in France in lands they held as Duke of Normandy or Count of Anjou. The tombs of several monarchs have been destroyed. The fate and the burial place of King Edward V, one of the “Little Princes in the Tower,” is unknown. King James II who lived out his life in exile after he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, was buried in France. The first Hanoverian king, King George I, was traveling back to his homeland when he suffered a stroke, died, and was then buried in Hanover. While we associate grandiose tombs with royalty, it is interesting to note that some monarchs have no tomb or memorial, but simply a plaque on the floor, and a few monarchs have no plaque, memorial, or tomb.

In 1042, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St. Peter’s Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church, the first Westminster Abbey. Construction of the second and present church was begun in 1245 by King Henry III who selected the site for his burial. In 1269, Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body of the saint to its new resting place. When Henry III died in 1272, he was buried in the original coffin of Edward the Confessor. Eventually, a grander tomb was built for Henry III and in 1290, his remains were moved to their current location in Westminster Abbey, in a tomb directly north of Edward the Confessor’s shrine. Nearby the shrine of Edward the Confessor, kings, their wives, and their relatives were buried over the years.

In 1502, King Henry VII started the rebuilding of the Lady Chapel, devoted to the Virgin Mary, at Westminster Abbey. The old Lady Chapel was demolished in 1502, construction began in January 1503, and was completed in 1509. The beautiful chapel, known as the Henry VII Chapel, is famous for its spectacular pendant fan vault ceiling. Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York are buried in the chapel in a magnificent tomb. The vaults under the chapel became the burial place for many of his successors and members of the royal family. King George II was the last monarch buried there. In 1790, the last British royal was buried at Westminster Abbey, Prince enry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and a younger brother of King George III.

By the time of George II’s death in 1760, the royal burial vaults at Westminster Abbey were quite crowded. His successor, his grandson King George III, decided to build a new royal vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. St. George’s Chapel was built during the reign of King Edward III (reigned 1327-1377). The new Royal Vault was constructed in 1804 under what is now the Albert Memorial Chapel, which had originally been intended to serve as a chapel for the tombs of Henry VII and his successors. Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, is not buried there, but his son Prince Leopold and his grandson Prince Albert Victor (Prince Eddy) are.

Above is a view inside the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel. Caskets were placed on the shelves along the sides. The bench in the middle was used as a temporary place for caskets waiting to be buried elsewhere. None of the Hanovers buried in the Royal Vault have a memorial except Princess Charlotte of Wales, who tragically died in childbirth at age 21 and most likely would have succeeded her father King George IV to the throne.

The Royal Vault is accessible from the Choir of St. George’s Chapel where a portion of the floor can be raised for lowering coffins into the passage that led to the vault. In 1873, steps to the vault were added behind the high altar and a mechanically operated platform was installed to ease the lowering of coffins into the vault. In the photo below, the Royal Vault is open as the coffin of King George V has been lowered into the vault following his funeral.

Princess Amelia, the youngest child of George III, was the first person buried in the new Royal Vault in 1810. George III’s two youngest sons, Prince Alfred who died at age two in 1782, and Prince Octavius who died at age four in 1783, were both originally buried at Westminster Abbey.  Their remains were moved to the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on February 11, 1820, shortly after their father’s death.  Burials in the Royal Vault continued until 1927.

In 1928, the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, adjacent to Queen Victoria’s mausoleum and near Windsor Castle, was consecrated as a cemetery for junior members of the British Royal Family. One monarch, King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936 after ten months on the throne, was buried at the Royal Burial Ground. At the time of the consecration, eight coffins of junior royals were moved from the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel and interred at the new Royal Burial Ground. Presumably, the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel could then be used for the burial of future monarchs and their consorts. Since that time, there have been no permanent burials in the Royal Vault. Many remains interred at the Royal Burial Ground temporarily rested in the Royal Vault before transfer to Frogmore. The Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore is the final resting place of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. A crypt below Victoria and Albert’s tomb has nine spaces that were reserved for the couple’s nine children, but none of them were buried there.

Four days after the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, Queen Victoria ordered a mausoleum to be built at Frogmore in Windsor Great Park where both she and Albert would be interred. Albert was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault and in March 1862, construction of the mausoleum began. In December 1862, Albert’s coffin was transferred to the Royal Mausoleum. When Queen Victoria died in January 1901, her coffin rested in the Albert Memorial Chapel for two days after the funeral, and then it was transferred to the Royal Mausoleum.

King Edward VII who died in 1910, was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault while a tomb with recumbent effigies was completed on the south side of the high altar in St. George’s Chapel. When Edward VII’s wife Alexandra died in 1925, the king’s coffin was removed from the Royal Vault and placed with his wife’s in front of the altar in the Albert Memorial Chapel. On April 22, 1927, both coffins were placed in the tomb.

King George V was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault. A tomb with recumbent effigies was built at the west end of the north aisle of the nave of St. George’s Chapel. George V’s coffin was removed from the Royal Vault and interred in the tomb on April 23, 1939. His wife Queen Mary was interred in the tomb when she died in 1953.

King George VI died in 1952, and like his two predecessors was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault. After lengthy discussions, a memorial chapel was built on the north side of St. George’s Chapel between 1967-1969. This was the first major addition to St. George’s Chapel since 1504. In March 1969, George VI’s coffin was transferred from the Royal Vault to the new King George VI Memorial Chapel. When his wife Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother died on March 30, 2002, her coffin was interred there along with the ashes of her younger daughter Princess Margaret who had died in February 2002. King George VI’s elder daughter and successor Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022, was interred with her parents and her sister’s ashes in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh died in 2021 and was originally interred in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel. At the time of the burial of his wife Queen Elizabeth II, his coffin was transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel.

Recommended Book
The Royal Tombs of Great Britain by Aiden Dodson

Below is some brief information about the burials of English/British monarchs since the Norman Conquest in 1066. For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites

House of Normandy

• King William I (the Conqueror): Saint Etienne Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, Normandy, plaque on the floor, the original tomb was destroyed by French Huguenots in 1562
• King William II Rufus: Winchester Cathedral, remains in a mortuary chest
• King Henry I: Reading Abbey, tomb destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
• King Stephen: Faversham Abbey, tomb destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries

House of Angevin

• King Henry II: Abbaye de Fontevraud in Anjou, France, remains destroyed by French Huguenots in 1562, effigy survived
• King Richard I: Abbaye de Fontevraud in Anjou, France, remains destroyed by French Huguenots in 1562, effigy survived
• King John: tomb in Worcester Cathedral

House of Plantagenet

• King Henry III: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• King Edward I: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• King Edward II: tomb in Gloucester Cathedral
• King Edward III: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• King Richard II: tomb in Westminster Abbey

House of Lancaster

• King Henry IV: tomb in Canterbury Cathedral
• King Henry V: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• Henry VI: tomb in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle

House of York

• King Edward IV: tomb in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
• Edward V: unknown
• King Richard III: buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, remains discovered in a car park and were re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in 2015

House of Tudor

• King Henry VII: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• King Henry VIII: buried in a vault in the Choir of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, plaque on the floor
• King Edward VI: tomb in Westminster Abbey
• Jane: after execution buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London
• Mary I: shared tomb with her half-sister Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey
• Elizabeth I: shared tomb with her half-sister Mary I at Westminster Abbey

House of Stuart

• James I: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor
• Charles I: buried in a vault with Henry VIII in the Choir in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, plaque on the floor
• Charles II: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor
• James II: buried in the Chapel of Saint Edmund at the English Benedictines in Paris, France which was destroyed during the French Revolution, viscera rediscovered and reburied in 1824 at the Parish Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
• Mary II: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor
• William III: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor
• Anne: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor

House of Hanover

• George I: buried at the Chapel of Leine Castle in Hanover, Germany; re-interred in the mausoleum at Herrenhausen in Hanover, Germany in 1956
• George II: buried in the vault beneath the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, plaque on the floor
• George III: buried in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, no plaque, memorial, or tomb
• George IV: buried in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, no plaque, memorial, or tomb
• William IV: buried in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, no plaque, memorial, or tomb
• Victoria: tomb in Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore, adjacent to Windsor Castle

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

• Edward VII: tomb in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle

House of Windsor

• George V: tomb in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
• Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor): Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, adjacent to Windsor Castle
• George VI: buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
• Elizabeth II: buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

• Read more about what happens When the British Monarch Dies.

In the United Kingdom, a state funeral is usually reserved for the monarch or for a very distinguished person with the approval of the monarch and Parliament such as Sir Winston Churchill‘s funeral in 1965.  While there has not been a monarch’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in London since King George II’s funeral in 1760, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be held at Westminster Abbey.  It is expected that most of the traditions outlined here will be followed.

The members of the British Royal Family who have had state funerals since 1901 are:

1901: Queen Victoria at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
1910: King Edward VII at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
1936: King George V at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
1952: King George VI at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
2022: Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, London

Another classification of funerals in the United Kingdom is ceremonial funerals, usually reserved for senior members of the Royal Family, generally for those who hold a high military rank, the consort of the monarch and the heir to the throne, and high-ranking public figures such as the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma in 1979 and Baroness Thatcher in 2013.

The members of the British Royal Family who have had ceremonial funerals since 1952 are:

• 1953: Queen Mary, wife of King George V at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
• 1974: The Duke of Gloucester, son of King George V at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
• 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, former wife of The Prince of Wales at Westminster Abbey, London
• 2002: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, wife of King George VI at Westminster Abbey, London
• 2021: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

Other members of the British Royal Family have private funerals such as the funeral of Princess Margaret in 2002.

State funerals of recent past monarchs have had the features below with the exception of the state funeral of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria wanted no public lying-in-state and therefore the only public event in London was a gun-carriage procession from one train station to another. She had died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and her coffin was transported via boat and train to Waterloo Station in London. Then the coffin was transported by gun carriage to Paddington Station for the train journey to Windsor.

 

The coffin is brought to Westminster Hall in London: From the place of death, the coffin is transported to London, if necessary, and then brought by horse-drawn gun carriage escorted by military, officials, and mourners to Westminster Hall for the lying-in-state.

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Lying-In-State in Westminster Hall: During the lying-in-state period, which occurs before the funeral, the coffin rests on a raised platform in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner of the platform is guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards, or the Household Cavalry.  Members of the public file past the coffin and pay their respects. See Unofficial Royalty: When The Monarch Dies: Lying-In-State in Westminster Hall

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The coffin is brought from Westminster Hall to Windsor or to Westminster Abbey: If the funeral service will be held at Westminster Abbey, the coffin will be transported the very short distance to Westminster Abbey. After the funeral, the coffin will be transported in the manner described below to Paddington Station for the burial in Windsor.  If the funeral will be held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, a gun carriage carrying the coffin is hauled from Westminster Hall to Paddington Station by sailors from the Royal Navy accompanied by several military contingents, State office-holders, the Royal Household, and the deceased monarch’s personal staff and servants. The late monarch’s equerries serve as pallbearers and walk alongside the coffin which is escorted by the monarch’s bodyguards: the Gentlemen at Arms and the Yeomen of the Guard. The Royal Family (as chief mourners) follow the coffin, along with foreign and Commonwealth representatives. The journey from Westminster Hall to Paddington Station takes two hours. The coffin, mourners, and officials then travel by train to Windsor, where the procession re-forms for the short journey to Windsor Castle.

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Funeral service in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle or Westminster Abbey, London: The funeral service for the monarch is the same as for a commoner, the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer. See Church of England: The Outline Order for Funerals and The Funeral Service. If the funeral is at Westminster Abbey, it is probable that the coffin will be transferred to Windsor for burial as described above.

• Official Website of St, George’s Chapel
• Official Website of Westminster Abbey

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Burial: King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II were all buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.  Before the burial, the Garter King of Arms pronounces the formal style of the deceased monarch. As the coffin is lowered into the vault, the Lord Chamberlain breaks his white stave of office to symbolize the end of his period of service to the late monarch. After Queen Victoria’s funeral, her coffin rested for two days in the Albert Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel. Her coffin was then taken by horse-drawn gun carriage the short distance to Frogmore Mausoleum to rest beside her husband Prince Albert.

For more specific information on the funerals of recent monarchs, see:

• Wikipedia: State Funeral of Queen Victoria
• Wikipedia: State Funeral of King Edward VII
• Wikipedia: Death and State Funeral of King George VI
• Wikipedia: Death and State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
• The Royal Windsor Website: The Funeral of Queen Victoria
• The Royal Windsor Website: The Funeral of King Edward VII
• The Royal Windsor Website: The Funeral of King George V
• The Royal Windsor Website: The Funeral of King George VI
• Unofficial Royalty: The Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
• YouTube: Funeral of Queen Victoria
• YouTube: Funeral of King Edward VII
• YouTube: Funeral of King George V
• YouTube: Funeral of King George VI
• YouTube: Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

• Read more about what happens When the British Monarch Dies.

On the River Thames in London sits the Palace of Westminster, commonly known as the Houses of Parliament, the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The building we see today was built after a fire destroyed the medieval Palace of Westminster in 1834. The first royal palace was built on the site in the 11th century and was the primary residence of the Kings of England until a fire destroyed much of the palace in 1512. After that, it served as the home of Parliament. Westminster Hall, built in 1097, survived both fires.  It was saved from the flames of 1834 because of the actions of the floating fire engine on the River Thames and also because a change in the wind direction kept the flames away.

Westminster Hall is an impressive structure even today. It was built during the reign of King William II Rufus, the son of King William I the Conqueror. At the time it was built in 1097, it was the largest hall in Europe. It measures 240 by 67 feet (73 by 20 meters) and has an area of 16,080 square feet (1,460 square meters). Originally the roof was flat, but during the reign of King Richard II, the flat roof was replaced by a spectacular hammerbeam roof called “the greatest creation of medieval timber architecture” by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland.

Westminster Hall was often used for judicial purposes and was the setting for some of the most famous state trials in British history. The trials of Sir William Wallace in 1305, Sir Thomas More in 1535, Cardinal John Fisher in 1535, Guy Fawkes in 1606, King Charles I in 1649, and the rebel Scottish lords of the 1715 uprising and 1745 uprising were held in Westminster Hall. From the 12th to the 19th century, coronation banquets honoring new monarchs were held at Westminster Hall. The last coronation banquet held there was for King George IV in 1821. His successor King William IV thought the coronation banquet expense was too great and the idea was abandoned.

It is expected that the practice of deceased monarchs and deceased consorts lying-in-state at Westminster Hall will continue. Recent royal lyings-in-state:

1910 – King Edward VII
1936 – King George V
1952 – King George VI
1953 – Queen Mary, wife of King George V
2002 – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, wife of King George VI
2022 – Queen Elizabeth II

During the lying-in-state period, which occurs before the funeral, the coffin rests on a raised platform in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner of the platform is guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry. Each unit mans the guard for a total of six hours, with each detachment standing post for twenty minutes. The four soldiers stand at each corner with heads bowed, weapons inverted and their backs turned towards the coffin. Members of the public file past the coffin and pay their respects.

 

On two occasions, the guard has been mounted by four male members of the Royal Family, unofficially called “The Vigil of the Princes.”  At the lying-in-state of King George V in 1936, his four sons King Edward VIII, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent took guard around their father’s coffin. For Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s lying-in-state in 2002, her four grandsons, The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III), The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex, and Viscount Linley (now 2nd Earl of Snowdon) stood guard. In 2022, the eight grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II: The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Sussex, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Peter Phillips, and Zara Phillips Tindall stood guard at their grandmother’s coffin in Westminster Hall.

Queen Elizabeth II’s eight grandchildren stand vigil around her coffin

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, 32-year-old King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

Richard had entered the battle as a seasoned soldier, wearing a battle crown on top of his helmet. During the battle, he saw an opportunity to strike directly at Henry Tudor and his personal guard and sped off on his horse. After managing to kill Henry Tudor’s standard-bearer, Richard saw something he had not expected. Sir William Stanley changed sides. Instead of supporting Richard and the Yorkists, Stanley attacked them, helping to secure a victory for Henry Tudor and the Lancastrians.

Richard was overwhelmed by Stanley’s soldiers and at some point, he took off or lost his helmet. Polydore Vergil, Henry Tudor’s official historian, wrote that “King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies.” According to Welsh poet Guto’r Glyn, the leading Welsh Lancastrian Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men, killed the king, writing that he “killed the boar, shaved his head.” After the battle, Henry Tudor’s men were yelling, “God save King Henry!”  Inspired by this, Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Debry who was married to the new king’s mother, found Richard’s battle crown and placed it on the head of his stepson saying, “Sir, I make you King of England.”

Richard’s body was stripped of its armor and carried naked across a packhorse to Greyfriars Abbey, a Franciscan abbey in Leicester, England. There the public was allowed to view the body for two days to prove that Richard was dead and the remains were then buried at the abbey church. Several years later King Henry VII paid a sum of money to the abbey to provide some kind of tomb for Richard. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, during the reign of King Henry VIII, the abbey church in Leicester, along with Richard’s burial place, was destroyed.

Richard III and his nephew Edward V, were the only English monarchs since the Norman Conquest in 1066 whose remains did not have an acknowledged burial place. There were stories that when the abbey church was destroyed Richard’s bones were dug up and thrown into the River Soar, which flows through Leicester. Another story said his coffin was used as a horse trough and that eventually the trough was broken up and used to make the steps to the cellar of the White Horse Inn.

The site of the abbey was eventually acquired by a mayor of Leicester, Robert Herrick (1540-1618), who built a mansion and gardens there. Although the abbey church and Richard’s grave were gone, it appears that it was local knowledge where Richard had been buried, and Herrick had a monument erected with an inscription, “Here lies the Body of Richard III, Some Time King of England.” There is evidence that the monument was standing in 1612 but had disappeared by 1844.

Over the years, the site changed ownership and several types of buildings were built on the site including a boys’ school and a bank. In 1915, part of the site was acquired by the Leicestershire County Council, which built new offices there. The county council moved out in 1965 when Leicestershire’s new County Hall was opened, and the Leicester City Council moved in. The rest of the site, where Herrick’s garden had once been, had been turned into a staff parking lot in 1944. In 2007, when a building on the site was demolished, archaeologists did an excavation to see if any traces of Greyfriars Abbey could be found. The excavation turned up little besides the fragment of a post-medieval stone coffin, and the results suggested that the remains of the Greyfriars Abbey were further west than had been thought.

Finding the remains of Richard III had always been an interest to the Richard III Society.  In 1975, an article was published in the society’s journal suggesting that Richard’s remains were buried under the Leicester City Council’s parking lot (car park). Two historians, David Baldwin in 1986 and John Ashdown-Hill in 2005, also suggested the claim about the parking lot could prove true. Philippa Langley, the secretary of the Scottish Branch of the Richard III Society, became convinced that the parking lot needed to be investigated while doing research for a screenplay about Richard in 2005. In 2008, writer Annette Carson independently came to the conclusion that Richard’s body probably lay under the parking lot in her book Richard III: The Maligned King. Langley, Carson, and Ashdown-Hill teamed up with two Richard III Society members, Dr. David Johnson and his wife Wendy, to form a project Looking for Richard: In Search of a King. Eventually, the project gained the backing of the Leicester City Council, Leicester Promotions (responsible for tourist marketing), the University of Leicester, Leicester Cathedral, Darlow Smithson Productions (responsible for the planned TV show) and the Richard III Society. The University of Leicester Archaeological Services agreed to do the archaeological excavations.

The excavations began on August 25, 2012, and on that day, two human leg bones were discovered. Over the next several days, evidence of medieval walls and rooms was uncovered which allowed the archaeologists to determine the area of the abbey. It soon became clear that the leg bones found on the first day lay inside the east part of the church, possibly the choir, where Richard was said to have been buried. Further investigation in the area where the leg bones were found revealed more remains: the skull was found in an unusual propped-up position, consistent with the body being put into a grave that was slightly too small; the spine was curved in an S-shape; the hands were in an unusual position, crossed over the right hip, suggesting they were tied together at the time of burial. No evidence of a coffin or shroud was found and the skeleton’s position suggested that the body had been dumped into the grave.

On September 12, 2012, the archaeological team announced that the human remains could possibly be those of Richard III. Evidence of such a possibility included:

• The body was an adult male
• It was buried under the choir of the church
• Severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other
• There were severe injuries to the skull

• University of Leicester: Richard III: Discovering the remains
• YouTube: BBC – Possible Remains of King Richard III Found

Now the scientists set to work on the remains. The DNA from Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard’s sister Anne of York, and an unnamed direct maternal line descendant matched the mitochondrial DNA extracted from the remains.

• University of Leicester: Richard III: Genetics and Genealogy

The bones were examined and the following discoveries were made:

• The base of the back of the skull had been completely cut away by a bladed weapon, which would have exposed the brain
• Another bladed weapon had been thrust through the right side of the skull to impact the inside of the left side through the brain
• A blow from a pointed weapon had penetrated the crown of the head
• Bladed weapons had clipped the skull and sheared off layers of bone, without penetrating it
• Holes in the skull and lower jaw were found to be consistent with dagger wounds to the chin and cheek.
• One of the right ribs and the pelvis had been cut by a sharp implement
• No evidence of the withered arm that afflicted the character in William Shakespeare’s play Richard III
• Severe curvature of the spine was attributed to adolescent-onset scoliosis
• The bones are those of a male with an age range estimation of 30–34; Richard was 32 when he died

• University of Leicester: Osteology – Reading the Bones

 

On February 4, 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the remains were those of King Richard III.

• BBC: Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king’s

The remains of Richard III were reburied at Leicester Cathedral on March 26, 2015. Three members of the Royal Family, The Countess of Wessex and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, attended the reburial. It was fitting that the Duke of Gloucester attended the reburial as his name is also Richard and Richard III was also a Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Gloucester is Patron of The Richard III Society.

• BBC: Richard III reinterment date announced
• BBC: Roses on Richard III cortege route will highlight missing people
• BBC: Richard III: The Full Story
• Getty Images: Leicester Sees The Reinterment Of The Remains Of King Richard III
• BBC: Richard III: Leicester Cathedral reburial service for king

 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

There are lots of resources and more information at:

• University of Leicester: The Discovery of Richard III

Works Cited

• “Battle of Bosworth Field.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field>.
• “Exhumation of Richard III of England.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhumation_of_Richard_III_of_England>.
• “Greyfriars, Leicester.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars,_Leicester>.
• Jones, Dan. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors. Print.
• Lisle, Leanda. Tudor: Passion, Manipulation, Murder: The Story of England’s Most Notorious Royal Family. Print.
• “Richard III of England.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England>.
• Ross, Charles Derek. Richard III. Berkeley: U of California, 1981. Print.
• “The Discovery of Richard III.” By the University of Leicester. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/>.
• Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

August 31, 1997 – Death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris, France; buried at Althorp, Northamptonshire, England

At 4 am (Paris time) Sunday 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in hospital after being involved in a car crash which instantly killed Dodi Fayed and the driver of the car. Diana’s car was being chased by photographers on motorbikes at high speeds when the crash happened in the Ponte l’Alma Tunnel. Investigation of the accident also brought to light that the driver of the car was more than three times over the (French) alcohol limit.

The Prince of Wales, along with Diana’s two sisters, flew to Paris to accompany Diana’s coffin back to Britain. Draped with the Royal Standard, the coffin was taken to the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace. The funeral was held on Saturday 6 September in Westminster Abbey, following a procession from Kensington Palace. After the service, Diana’s coffin was taken to Althorp, the ancestral home of the Earls Spencer, where she was buried privately on an island in the center of a lake on the grounds.

Diana was born The Honourable (later Lady) Diana Frances Spencer, youngest daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later 8th Earl Spencer) and his wife, formerly the Honourable Frances Burke Roche, at Park House, on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. She married HRH The Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981 at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The Prince and Princess of Wales have two sons – HRH Prince William and HRH Prince Henry (Harry). The couple divorced in 1996 and Diana’s style became Diana, Princess of Wales. While she lost her HRH status, she remained, officially, a member of the Royal Family.

• Unofficial Royalty: Diana, Princess of Wales

Links:

• • Althorp House
  • British Monarchy: Diana, Princess of Wales
  • British Monarchy: The Queen’s words on the eve of Diana’s funeral
  • Earl Spencer’s funeral address
  • Wikipedia: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
  • Wikipedia: Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales

 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.