Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

In view of the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, it is
interesting to look at the coronations in the past.
This blog post is about the coronation of King Edward VII
and Queen Alexandra.

A change of date

The coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra, as King and
Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and as
Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey,
 London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 26 June of
that year, the ceremony had been postponed at very short notice,
because the King had been taken ill with an abdominal abscess
that required immediate surgery. 

Coronation of Edward VII

The service was conducted by the elderly and infirm Archbishop of
Canterbury, Frederick Temple, who died before the end of the year. He
steadfastly refused to delegate any part of his duties and had to be
supported throughout by two other bishops. Because of his failing
eyesight, the text of the service had to be printed in gigantic type
onto rolls of paper called "prompt scrolls"; they are preserved in
the Lambeth Palace Library. 

Archbishop Temple provided most of the upsets in an otherwise
splendid ceremony; he was unable to rise after kneeling to pay homage
and had to be helped up by the King himself and several bishops, 

he placed the crown back-to-front on the King's head, and when 

a colleague enquired after his well-being, he was told to "go away!" 

in a loud voice that was plainly heard by the congregation. 

The King also deviated from the order of service; when the Prince of Wales
touched the Crown and kissed his father's left cheek in the traditional
gesture of homage, the King rose to his feet and threw his arms
around his son's neck in an unusual display of affection. 

Another disruption came from the King's sister Princess Beatrice, who
noisily (but accidentally) dropped her service book from the royal
gallery onto a gold-plate table.

Because he was still convalescing, Edward had been crowned with
the Imperial State Crown instead of the heavier St Edward's Crown.
Alexandra was crowned immediately after her husband
by William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York,
with a new crown containing the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Procession

The Procession in State was originally to have included military
contingents from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Russia and
Portugal. 

However, following the postponement, these returned home,
leaving the parade a wholly British and Imperial affair. Out of a
total of 30,000 men marching or lining the route, over 2,000
were representatives of colonial, Dominion or Indian forces. 

The remainder represented every corps and regiment of the 

British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines.

A procession of carriages carried British and overseas
dignitaries and was followed by the King's equerries,
aides-de-camp and eminent commanders including
Lord Kitchener, Lord Roberts and Lord Wolseley.

A second procession, which had been planned for the
day after the coronation service to tour the City of London
and Southwark, was postponed until 25 October because of
the King's health.

Queen Alexandra Coronation

The Crown of Queen Alexandra was the consort crown of the
British queen Alexandra of Denmark. It was manufactured for
the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

The crown departed from the standard style of British crowns,
and was more akin to European royal crowns.
It was made of platinum for lightness, less upright than the norm
in British crowns, and more squat in design, with an unprecedented
eight half-arches. Its front arch joined a jewelled cross into which
was set the Koh-i-Noor diamond. As with the later
Crown of Queen Mary and Crown of Queen Elizabeth, the arches
were detachable, allowing the crown to be worn as a circlet.

The Crown of Queen Alexandra was not worn by later queens;
new crowns were created for Mary of Teck in 1911 and
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1937. The crown is now on display in the
Tower of London.

Royal guests

👀👉 What an impressive guest list! 👑

British royal family

* The Prince and Princess of Wales, the King and Queen's 

son and daughter-in-law

* Prince Edward of Wales, the King and Queen's grandson

* Prince Albert of Wales, the King and Queen's grandson

* Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife and The Duke of Fife,
the King and Queen's daughter and son-in-law

* Lady Alexandra Duff, the King and Queen's granddaughter

* Princess Victoria, the King and Queen's daughter

* Princess and Prince Charles of Denmark, the King and
Queen's daughter and son-in-law

* Princess and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein,
the King's sister and brother-in-law

* Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, the King's nephew

* Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, the king's niece

* Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, the king's niece

* Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll and The Duke of Argyll,
the King's sister and brother-in-law

* The Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn,
the King's brother and sister-in-law

* Princess Margaret of Connaught, the King's niece

* Prince Arthur of Connaught, the king's nephew

* Princess Patricia of Connaught, the king's niece

* The Duchess of Albany, the King's sister-in-law

* Princess Alice of Albany, the King's niece

* Princess Henry of Battenberg, the King's sister

* Prince Alexander of Battenberg, the King's nephew

* Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the King's niece,
She later became Queen of Spain

* Prince Leopold of Battenberg, the King's nephew

* Prince Maurice of Battenberg, the King's nephew

* Kingdom of Romania The Crown Princess and
Crown Prince of Romania, the King's niece and nephew-in-law
(also the king's second cousin once removed)
(representing the King of the Romanians)

* Princess Louis of Battenberg, the King's niece

* Princess Alice of Battenberg, the King's grandniece

* Count Edward Gleichen, the King's half-first cousin once removed

Other descendants of the King's maternal great-grandfather,
King George III and their families:

* Princess Frederica of Hanover, the King's second cousin

* The Duke of Cambridge, the King's first cousin once removed

* Adolphus FitzGeorge, the King's second cousin

* Augustus FitzGeorge, the King's second cousin

* Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Grand Duchess 

of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the King's first cousin once removed

* Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Duke Adolphus
Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the king's second cousin
once removed (representing the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz)

* The Earl of Munster, the King's second cousin once removed

Foreign royals

* Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duke of Hesse and
by Rhine, the King's nephew

* Kingdom of Prussia Prince and Princess Henry of Prussia,
the King's nephew and niece (representing the German Emperor)

* Denmark The Crown Prince of Denmark, the Queen's brother
(representing the King of Denmark)

* Kingdom of Greece The Duke and Duchess of Sparta, the
Queen's nephew and the King's niece (representing the King of the Hellenes)

* Kingdom of Greece Prince George of Greece and Denmark,
the Queen's nephew

* Kingdom of Greece Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark,
the Queen's nephew

* Kshatriya-Kulaawatans Sinhasanaadheeshwar, Shreemant
Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur

* The Maharaja of Bikaner

* The Maharaja of Cooch Behar

* The Maharaja of Idar

* The Maharaja of Gwalior

* Lubosi I, King of Barotseland

* Raja Sir Harnam Singh Ahluwalia of Kapurthala,
representing the Christians of India

Guests at the service of intercession

The following guests who were due to attend the coronation in June
before its postponement attended the intercession service on
the same day but not the coronation in August:

* Saxe-Coburg and Gotha The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(Duke of Albany), the King's nephew

* Russian Empire Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia,
the Queen's nephew (representing the Russian Emperor)

He would be murdered in 1918. 

* Luxembourg The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the
Queen's first cousin once removed (representing the Grand Duke of Luxembourg)

* Belgium Prince Albert of Belgium, the King's second
cousin (representing the King of the Belgians). Later he became King Albert I
of the Belgians

* Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Hereditary
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the King's second
cousin (representing the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz)

* Kingdom of Württemberg Duke Robert of Württemberg,
the King's second cousin once removed
(representing the King of Württemberg)

* Kingdom of Portugal The Crown Prince of Portugal,
the King's second cousin twice removed (representing
the King of Portugal)

* Austria-Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
(representing the Emperor of Austria). He would be assassinated in 1914.

* Bavaria Prince Leopold of Bavaria (representing the
Prince Regent of Bavaria)

* Qing dynasty Prince Zaizhen of China (representing
the Emperor of China)

* Khedivate of Egypt Prince Mohammed Ali of Egypt
(representing the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan)

* Kingdom of Italy The Duke of Aosta (representing the King of Italy)

* Empire of Japan Prince Komatsu Akihito (representing the Emperor of Japan)

* Qajar Iran Prince Mass'oud Mirza of Persia (representing the Shah of Persia)

* Kingdom of Saxony Prince Johann Georg of Saxony
(representing the King of Saxony)

* Thailand The Crown Prince of Siam (representing the King of Siam)

* Spain Infante Carlos of Spain (representing the King of Spain)

* Sweden The Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway, (representing the
King of Sweden and Norway)

As you can see, many of them became later Kings and Queens themselves.

Some of them where murdered due to revoltion and a start of the war.

 

New Zealand Coronation Souvenir

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

Source pictures: Wikipedia