by The Laird o’Thistle
February 27 2007

This month Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II quietly marked the completion of fifty-five years on the throne at Sandringham, as is her custom. Although she is beginning to slow down in some areas because of her age, she looks to continue to wear the crown for years to come. Imagine my surprise, then, at an article I found on this very website back in November concerning the planning for the next coronation! According to the article from the Christian Today website, posted on November 15, 2006, the Church of England recently declared that the Archbishop of Canterbury will design the next coronation… even though this could put the Church at odds with the future King.

It is reported that the current Prince of Wales wants a dramatic break with tradition when he comes to the throne. His desire for a “multi-faith” ceremony – including representatives of the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh faiths, in addition to various Christian denominations – has been known for some time. What was new to me in the reading of the article was that there is also talk about moving the ceremony from Westminster Abbey to nearby Westminster Hall, the site or royal layings-in-state and other ceremonies.

While I truly do have some sympathies for a reform of the coronation ceremonies; I also have concerns about too profound a break from tradition. Careful balance needs to be maintained when dealing with historical sites and ceremonies which have been used continuously for a millennium. They have accrued to themselves a degree of legitimating authority over the centuries. Too radical a change could undercut the very essence of what the monarchy has represented. (And it also seems to me a wee bit ill-omened to think of relocating the whole thing to the venue where the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, was ceremonially installed back in the 17th century!)

Besides the “multi-faith” dimension so desired by Prince Charles, the next coronation will need to adapt to the still incomplete reform of the House of Lords. (Hopefully, by then, some government will find ways to rationalize, regularize, and bring to completion thus far haphazard reforms of the Lords and the devolutions of power to the Assemblies and Parliaments of Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and – eventually, completing the set – England!) The old homage of the Peers of the Realm will necessarily have to find a new expression fitting the contemporary evolution of the Constitution. It will also be appropriate to make accommodations recognizing the more secular nature of twenty-first century Britain.

It would also be most worthwhile, in my opinion, to make sure that the crowning of the next King is clearly performed for the ENTIRE United Kingdom. Before researching this article I was not really aware that the actual coronation rite is, officially, only done by the Church of England and that the Sovereign is crowned ONLY as King or Queen of England! The current Queen has always insisted that she was crowned as Queen of the entire U.K., but that is apparently only her sincere personal belief and not the constitutional reality.

Oddly enough, there may be a precedent for reforming the coronation ceremonies provided by another ancient monarchy on the other side of the globe, one that had to adapt to radically new circumstances over the last two generations. When the current Emperor Akihito came to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan in 1989 the Japanese faced a dilemma. The last enthronement ceremony had been in 1928 for Akihito’s father (Emperor Hirohito, referred to in death as Emperor “Showa”). Between 1928 and 1989 the constitutional status of the Emperor had radically changed – with quite a bit of “help” from the British – and Akihito could no longer be officially honored as a Shinto deity in the state ceremonies. But, the tie of the Imperial Family to Shinto tradition was, and is, of such central cultural importance that a device had to be created for incorporating essential Shinto ceremonies into the enthronement. The solution was to divide the ceremonies into two parts. There was the official state / secular ceremony, and there were the “private rites” incorporating the Shinto ceremonials. So, if I were one of those officially involved in designing the eventual coronation of Charles III, I would look long and hard at the Japanese model as eventually implemented in November of 1990.

Christian rites have been integral to British royal inaugurations ever since the times of Aidan, King of Scots, in the sixth century, and of the Saxon Ecgfrith of Mercia in the eighth century. The historic “Coronation Order” was originally designed by St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury in the time of King Edgar “The Peaceful,” and used for the first time in 973. (Notice, that was 980 years before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.) Dunstan’s rite was based on the coronation rites of the Holy Roman Emperors. Since the Norman Conquest, every English coronation has occurred at Westminster Abbey, the site of the shrine-tomb of St. Edward the Confessor. And since the days of the first Hanoverians, the ceremonies have included the wonderful anthem settings composed by George Frederick Handel.

The order of the coronation service intersperses elements that could be termed “secular” into the Christian Eucharistic liturgy, as follows:

1. The ceremony begins with the arrival of the monarch, wearing a parliamentary red robe, and the first acclamation by the boys of Westminster School .
2. The new sovereign is “presented” to the people, turning to each of the four directions in turn, and acclaimed by the crowd signifying their acceptance of the new ruler.
3. The coronation oath is taken by the new King or Queen.

3a. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland presents the monarch with a Bible, representing the divine law. (This bit of ceremony was added in 1953.)
4. The Anglican rite of Holy Communion commences, going up to the recitation of the creed.
5. The communion rite is interrupted, transitioning into the anointing, investiture with a variety of ritual garments and regalia culminating in the crowning of the new monarch as he / she is seated in the historic Coronation Chair containing the Scottish Stone of Destiny.
6. The newly crowned King or Queen is acclaimed — and blessed.

7. The Sovereign moves from the coronation chair to be “lifted into” the throne by the lords spiritual and temporal, followed by the homage of Peers of the Realm.

8. The Consort of a King is crowned.
9. The Sovereign reverently lays aside the crown and the service of Holy Communion is resumed at the Offertory. (Only the Sovereign and Consort receive the sacrament.)

10. After the final benediction, the Sovereign, wearing the crown, robed in imperial purple, and carrying the scepter and orb, processes out of the Abbey.

(Readers will note the divisions between the more secular elements and the more religious components of the ceremony, as distinguished by the spacing and the use of italics.)

Upon review, it seems it would be relatively simple to reconfigure the traditional coronation order into a 2-part ceremony consisting of an initial secular “inauguration” covering numbers 1-3, plus a reformed “civil” installation and homage as in numbers 6 & 7; then would follow the “private” Christian rites including the anointing, investiture, crowning, and Eucharist included in numbers 3a-5, plus 8-10. Though it would marginally extend the time of the ceremony, the first part of the ceremonies could easily be done in Westminster Hall, followed by a procession on foot over to the Abbey for the religious rites. This would have the benefit of creating a clear delineation between the civil and ecclesiastical aspects of the ceremonies. (And it would also add seating capacity, inter-linked by large viewing screens in both venues.)

The question still remains as to where the “multi-faith” participation desired by the Prince of Wales could best be incorporated. Traditionally the Christian liturgy is divided into two parts. These two parts are the liturgy of the “Word” (the readings, sermon, etc.) and that of the “Sacrament.” In the coronation, the rites of anointing and investiture traditionally come in between these two parts. What would seem to make the most liturgical sense, then, would be to insert whatever additional ceremonies of blessing may be offered by the several religious communities at the point immediately following the crowning. This would be put in the place of the traditional homage.

A more diverse and inclusive version of the religious crowning ceremony will require a more active participation by the established Church of Scotland. (Or maybe of a Scottish representative with a historic religiously based claim, such as the Duke of Hamilton in his role as the Chief of the Kindred of St. Columba and hereditary “crowner” of the King of Scots.) Finding the appropriate roles for other non-establishment religious figures that will be regionally as well as denominationally representative will require a truly Solomonic gift of discernment. AND – heavens, what a thought! – the religious representatives and participants absolutely must include women as well as men.

Such are my thoughts, as provoked by the Christian Today article. (I am sure the folks at Clarence House and Lambeth Palace have been waiting with bated breath for my opinion!) To me, the careful creation of the new rites for a new millennium would be a thrilling project to participate in. Once the broad outlines of a newly re-ordered ceremony get established, there will have to follow a massive amount of re-writing and re-wording, the sorting through of thousands of details and claims as to who is still “in” and who is now “out” among traditional participants, and the discerning of what new representatives and constituencies need to be brought into the action. Many old bits will undoubtedly require simplification and downscaling, given the spirit of our times; but the inevitable revisions should not – please! – compromise the essential “magic” of the historic ceremony. If poor Rowan Williams endures the current trials and tribulations of being Primate long enough to have a hand in the reform, at least he is also already an honorary Archdruid of Wales. And what could be more perfect for the task?

Yours Aye,

– Ken Cuthbertson

Note: Readers may enjoy glancing back at my columns for August 2005, “Reciting the Lineage,” and for May 2006, “The King’s ‘Companion.'” Both contain some of my other thoughts on the next coronation