Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Coronation Chair commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I; Credit – By Kjetil Bjørnsrud – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=780325

Check out all our British coronation articles at the link below:

The main elements of the British coronation service and the form of the oath taken by the sovereign can be traced to the order of service devised by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury for the coronation of Edgar the Peaceable, King of the English in 973. Dunstan felt there was a need for a major ceremony similar to the coronations of the King of the Franks and the German Emperor. Previously, the Kings of Wessex and the early Anglo-Saxon Kings of the English were installed on the Kings’ Stone which can still be seen in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England.

Dunstan wrote the order of service for King Edgar’s coronation based upon ceremonies used by the Kings of the Franks and ceremonies used in the ordination of bishops. Although there have been revisions in the order of the ceremony, the sequence of taking an oath, anointing, investing of regalia, crowning, and enthronement found in the original Anglo-Saxon text have remained constant. See our article Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey for more specific information about the coronation liturgy.

The United Kingdom is the only European monarchy that still has a coronation ceremony with a crowning. In the United Kingdom, upon the death of the sovereign, there is an immediate transference of power. The heir to the throne becomes the new sovereign immediately upon his/her predecessor’s death. “The king is dead, long live the king!”

If the sovereign is a male and is married, his wife instantly becomes queen consort because, in the United Kingdom, a wife takes her husband’s status. A coronation is not necessary at all for a person to become the sovereign or the queen consort.

King Edward V, one of the “Princes in the Tower,” two disputed monarchs Empress Matilda, Lady of the English, the only surviving child of King Henry I, and Lady Jane Grey, and additionally King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936, are the only monarchs since the Norman Conquest in 1066 who were never crowned.

King Henry II decided to adopt the French practice of ensuring the succession by declaring his heir the junior king. His eldest surviving son Henry, called “The Young King,” was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 14, 1170. His wife Marguerite was not crowned at this time and this greatly infuriated her father King Louis VII of France. To appease the French king, another coronation which included Marguerite was held on August 27, 1172, at Winchester Cathedral. Henry the Young King predeceased his father and never became King of England.

A number of queens consort were not crowned with their husbands but were crowned in a separate ceremony. The reasons vary from not being married when their husbands became king, not being in England at the time, pregnancy, illness, etc. Eight queens consort were never crowned. Margaret of France, the second wife of King Edward I, was never crowned, making her the first queen consort since the Norman Conquest in 1066 not to be crowned. King Henry VIII apparently did not feel the need to have his last four wives crowned. Three of them were queen for not very long: Jane Seymour (died) – 15 months, Anne of Cleves (divorced) – 7 months, Catherine Howard (beheaded) – 16 months. Henry VIII’s last wife Catherine Parr (survived) was queen for a bit longer – 2 ½ years. Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I, and Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II), were never crowned because they were Catholic and did not want to participate in a Church of England ceremony. King George IV’s estranged wife Caroline of Brunswick was prevented from being crowned with him and when she showed up at Westminster Abbey she was turned away.

Date of Coronation

Person Crowned Place of Coronation

Main Officiant

December 25, 1066

King William I Westminster Abbey

Ealdred, Archbishop of York

May 11, 1068

Matilda of Flanders, wife of William I Winchester Cathedral

Ealdred, Archbishop of York

September 26, 1087

King William II Rufus Westminster Abbey

Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury

August 5, 1100

King Henry I Westminster Abbey

Maurice, Bishop of London

November 11, 1100

Matilda of Scotland, 1st wife of Henry I Westminster Abbey

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 3, 1122

Adeliza of Louvain, 2nd wife of Henry I Westminster Abbey

Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury

December 26, 1135

King Stephen Westminster Abbey

William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury

March 22, 1136

Matilda of Boulogne, wife of Stephen Westminster Abbey

William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury

December 19, 1154

King Henry II Westminster Abbey

Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury

December 25, 1158

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II Worcester Cathedral

Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 14, 1170

Henry the Young King, son and heir of Henry II Westminster Abbey

Roger of Pont L’Évêque, Archbishop of York

August 27, 1172

Henry the Young King recrowned with his wife Marguerite of France Winchester Cathedral

Routrou, Archbishop of Rouen

September 3, 1189

King Richard I Westminster Abbey

Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury

May 12, 1191

Berengaria of Navarre, wife of Richard I Chapel of St. George in Limassol, Cyprus

Jean FitzLuke, Bishop of Evreux

May 27, 1199

King John Westminster Abbey

Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 8, 1200

Isabella of Angoulême, wife of John Westminster Abbey

Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 28, 1216

King Henry III Gloucester Cathedral

Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester

May 17, 1220

King Henry III recrowned Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury

January 20, 1236

Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III Westminster Abbey

Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury

August 19, 1274

King Edward I & his 1st wife Eleanor of Castile Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Robert Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 25, 1308

King Edward II & his wife Isabella of France Westminster Abbey

Henry Woodlock, Bishop of Winchester

February 1, 1327

King Edward III Westminster Abbey

Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 20, 1328

Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III Westminster Abbey

Simon Mepham, Archbishop of Canterbury

July 16, 1377

King Richard II Westminster Abbey

Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury

January 22, 1382

Anne of Bohemia, 1st wife of Richard II Westminster Abbey

William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury

January 8, 1397

Isabella of Valois, 2nd wife of Richard II Westminster Abbey

Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 13, 1399

King Henry IV Westminster Abbey

Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 26, 1403

Joan of Navarre, 2nd wife of Henry IV Westminster Abbey

Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury

April 9, 1413

King Henry V Westminster Abbey

Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 24, 1421

Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V Westminster Abbey

Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury

November 6, 1429 King Henry VI Westminster Abbey Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
May 30, 1445 Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI Westminster Abbey John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 29, 1461

King Edward IV Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

May 26, 1465

Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

July 6, 1483

King Richard III & his wife Anne Neville Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 30, 1485

King Henry VII Westminster Abbey

Cardinal Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

November 24, 1487

Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII Westminster Abbey

Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 24, 1509

King Henry VIII & his 1st wife Catherine of Aragon Westminster Abbey

William Warham Archbishop of Canterbury

June 1, 1533

Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII Westminster Abbey

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 20, 1547

King Edward VI Westminster Abbey

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 1, 1553

Queen Mary I Westminster Abbey

Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester

January 15, 1559

Queen Elizabeth I Westminster Abbey

Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle

July 25, 1603

King James I & his wife Anne of Denmark Westminster Abbey

John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury

February 2. 1626

King Charles I Westminster Abbey

George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury

April 23, 1661

King Charles II Westminster Abbey

William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury

April 23, 1685

King James II & his 2nd wife Maria Beatrice of Modena Westminster Abbey

William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury

April 11, 1689

King William III & Queen Mary II (joint sovereigns) Westminster Abbey

Henry Compton, Bishop of London

April 23, 1702

Queen Anne Westminster Abbey

Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 20, 1714

King George I Westminster Abbey

Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury

October 11, 1727

King George II & his wife Caroline of Ansbach Westminster Abbey

William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury

September 22, 1761

King George III & his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Westminster Abbey

Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury

July 19, 1821

King George IV Westminster Abbey

Charles Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury

September 8, 1831

King William IV & his wife Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen Westminster Abbey

William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 28, 1838

Queen Victoria Westminster Abbey

William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury

August 9, 1902

King Edward VII & his wife Alexandra of Denmark Westminster Abbey

Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 22, 1911

King George V & his wife Mary of Teck Westminster Abbey

Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury

May 12, 1937

King George VI & his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Westminster Abbey

Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury

June 2, 1953

Queen Elizabeth II Westminster Abbey

Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury

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