Coronation of George III and Charlotte
Date | 22 September 1761 |
---|---|
Location | Westminster Abbey, London, England |
Budget | £9,430 (£70,000 according to other sources) |
Participants |
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The coronation of George III and his wife Charlotte as King and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Tuesday, 22 September 1761, about two weeks after they were married in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace. The day was marked by errors and omissions; a delayed procession from Westminster Hall to the abbey was followed by a six-hour coronation service and then a banquet that finally ended at ten o'clock at night.
Background
On the death of his grandfather,
Preparations
The coronation was budgeted at £9,430
The abbey building was transformed with numerous wooden galleries erected in the quire for Members of Parliament, ambassadors and musicians, while in the nave, three tiers of galleries for the public were built into the arcade.[8] Tickets for a front seat cost 10 guineas (£10.50) each, while a higher box of twelve seats cost 50 guineas (£52.50).[9] The builders boasted that they had damaged "a whole legion of angels" during the construction work.[10]
Westminster Hall was also transformed, as it was generally divided by wooden partitions into various courtrooms. A wooden floor was installed, along with three tiers of galleries for spectators. The highest of these was attached to the hammerbeams of the roof,[11] while the lowest was fitted with a sluice "for the reception of urinary discharges".[12] Over the north door, a triumphal arch designed by William Oram was erected,[12] surmounted by a balcony for musicians and a pipe organ. Illumination was provided by twenty-five huge chandeliers. Outside, temporary stands giving a view of the procession between the hall and the abbey were erected by enterprising builders, some seating up to 1,500 people, while renting a house which overlooked the scene for the day, could cost up to £1,000.[13]
A
Procession
The coronation proved to be an anticipated affair, for the morning of the ceremony was marked with crowded streets as well as overflown inns, rooms, and homes waiting for the appearance of the new king and queen. Reportedly a great many carriages hastily arrived at Westminster Abbey on the day of the coronation, many of them colliding in ensuing chaos. At around 9:00 am, George and Charlotte departed from St James's Palace and were carried separately to Westminster Hall in
Following ancient tradition, the assembled participants in the hall awaited the arrival of a procession of senior clergy from the abbey bearing the crowns and regalia; these were then distributed to those who had the right to carry them in the main procession from the hall to the abbey.[18] On this occasion, there was a lengthy delay because the deputy earl marshal had forgotten some important items; no chairs had been provided for the king and queen, there was no sword of state, so one had to be borrowed from the Lord Mayor of London, and also there was no canopy under which the king and queen were supposed to process and one had to be improvised.[19][20]
The short procession on foot between Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey was the only part of the ceremonial to be visible to the general public and a huge crowd filled not only the pavements but also the windows and roofs of the surrounding houses, as well as specially built wooden grandstands. The route ran from New Palace Yard, along Parliament Street, Bridge Street and King Street to the west door of the abbey, along which a temporary wooden walkway had been constructed, 3 feet (0.91 m) high and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide so that the participants could be seen more easily. However, the 2,800 soldiers standing on either side obstructed the view and they had to beat back the eager crowds with the flat side of their swords and the butts of their muskets.[21] The King and Queen entered the Abbey shortly after 1:30 p.m., with the dignity of the royal couple and the “reverent attention which both paid to the service” being favourably commented on.[17] The procession and ceremony were so long the King was not crowned until 3:30 that afternoon.[22]
Service
The coronation ceremony was conducted by Archbishop Secker. The first part of the ceremony, the
Mishaps
On the way to the abbey, the
Music
1761 is the only known coronation where almost all the music was written by the same composer,
The combined choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal probably numbered 42 singers and there was an orchestra of about 105 musicians. The choir was arranged in the front rows of the galleries that had been erected in the eastern end of the abbey, with the orchestra in a gallery over the rood screen. Boyce asked for the top of the tall reredos of the high altar to be dismantled so that all the choristers could see the conductor, but even so, an assistant conductor was required.[36] The music seems to be the only element of the coronation to have gone without a hitch, perhaps because Boyce held three full rehearsals in the abbey, to which the public were admitted by ticket, the last being on the day before the service.[37]
Banquet
The ceremony ended with a coronation banquet, the Lord Steward, the Lord High Constable and the deputy Earl Marshal presided on horseback. The distinguished diners had to sit in the dark until, on the entry of the king and queen, all 3,000 candles were lit almost at once by means of a network of linen tapers[38] which, while spectacular, showered the guest with flakes of ash.[39]
Here again, poor organisation came into play, much of the blame for which attached to the Lord Steward,
Between the first and second courses, the hereditary King's Champion, John Dymoke, entered the hall in full armour, allegedly mounted on the same grey horse that King George II had ridden at the Battle of Dettingen eighteen years earlier.[41] Spectators reportedly let down baskets and handkerchiefs to the eaters at the banquet tables below, who would send up chicken and wine.[42] The banquet finally ended at 10 pm when the king and queen left in their sedan chairs; as tradition demanded, the doors of the hall were then thrown open to the public, who carried off anything that had been left behind,[43] including plates, cutlery and table cloths.[44]
Other celebrations
In London, large crowds celebrated in the streets. Although the
References
- ^ "George III (r. 1760–1820)". The Royal Family. 31 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "George III | Biography, Madness, & Facts". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ a b Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald (1899). The Good Queen Charlotte. New York Public Library. Downey. pp. 32–33.
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 372
- ^ "RCIN 1005090 – Ceremonial of the Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty King George the Fourth". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 376
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 378
- ^ Strong 2005, pp. 386–387
- ^ Hoock 2010, p. 24
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 387
- ^ Thomson 1820, p. 25
- ^ a b c Hoock 2010, p. 31
- ^ Thomson 1820, pp. 26–27
- ^ "Gold coach a 'bumpy ride'". BBC News. 4 June 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
- ^ "Value of 1760 British pounds today | UK Inflation Calculator".
- ^ Bates, Stephen (6 May 2023). "Nothing but drizzle was permitted to rain on this parade. So why did Charles look so glum?". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c "The Coronation of George III". Mackinac State Historic Parks. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 390
- ^ a b Strong 2005, p. 394
- ^ a b Jones 1883, p. 322
- ^ Strong 2005, pp. 394–398
- ^ "George III". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- ^ Hoock pp. 27–28
- ^ Thomson p. 52
- ^ Hoock pp. 28–30
- ^ Thomson p. 62
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 407
- ^ Jones p. 323
- ^ Jesse p. 110
- ^ Jones p. 322
- ^ Hoock p. 28
- ^ Jesse 1867, p. 108
- ^ Range 2012, pp. 162–163
- ^ Starkey 2013, p. 277
- ^ Range 2012, p. 165
- ^ Holman 2020, pp. 108–109
- ^ Range 212, pp. 174–175
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 388
- ^ Jesse 1867, p. 103
- ^ Jesse 1867, pp. 108–109
- ^ Hoock 2010, p. 32
- ^ Strong 2005, pp. 387–388
- ^ Thomson 1820, p. 68
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 414
- ^ Hoock 2010, pp. 32–33
- ^ Strong 2005, p. 415
Sources
- Holman, Peter (2020). Before the Baton – Musical Direction and Conducting in Stuart and Georgian Britain. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 978-1783274567.
- Hoock, Holger (2010). Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750–1850. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1861978592.
- Jesse, John Heneage (1867). Memoirs of the Life and Reign of King George the Third. London: Tinsley Brothers.
- Jones, William (1883). Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia. London: Chato and Windus.
- Range, Matthias (2012). Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II. Cambridge University Press. pp. 256–257. ISBN 978-1-107-02344-4.
- Thomson, Richard, ed. (1820). A faithful account of the processions and ceremonies observed in the coronation of the kings and queens of England, exemplified in that of Their late most sacred Majesties King George the Third, and Queen Charlotte. London: John Major.
- ISBN 978-0-00-716054-9.