The Washington herald., 1911-06-04

. chuckls that this disparity In their
height afforded NO end Of suppressed
msrrimsnt to the spectators - the
two royal psrsonasss marched side
BY side up the aisle Of the church.
The House OF Commons was present
In . body In . gallery directly behind
ths>Shrins Of Edward the Confss.or.
A. Archbishop sancroft refused to
ofaciats on the ground that william
and Mary claimed the throne By act of
Parliament and not BY hereditary Do.
scent, Thomas Lamplush. Archbishop
Of York. crowned the Queen, and
Compton, Bishop Of London. the King.
For the first time since the corona
ton Of Edward vi Q copy Of the
English bible was prsssntsd. The day
was considered unlucky By the Jacob
ites since Il was neither . Sunday nor
q festival william had intended to
make an Offering Of twenty guineas,
but his purse was mystsriously stolen
before the ceremony.
II there is. anything In omens. that
fact seemed certainly demonstrated at
the coronation Of George III. Septem-
Der %, 1851. A large diamond fell
from his crown a. he was walking
about Just after the ceremony. AMI
many later declared It to be symbolic
Of the loss to England Of her Ameri-
can colonies. Tho coronation day was
the anniversary Of the battle Of Agin-
court. Several changes were made
In the coronation service by Arch
bishop Seeker and. 1t II related. the
Pretender, Prince Charles Edward.
was present incognito. King George
was but twenty-five years Of age when
crowned.
The coronation Of King George ~,
July 10. 1921. was marked. by lavish
display. Preparations for the event
were made many weeks before hand
and every detail was carefully
planned. The coronation oath was
altered to ut in with the union with
the church Of Ireland; several pray
ers were omitted in the ritual and no
reference was made In them to the
Queen. The day was excessively hot
and tho King became very fatigued
under his heavy and ornate corona
ton robes. A magnificent banquet
followed in Westminster Hall. Golden
dishes were used and food and drinks
provided with q lavish hand.
Exceeding all in splendor was the
coronation Of Queen Victoria, June IS.
1888, who was but eighteen years Of
age when called to the throne. That
the event was q popular one is attested
by the fact that the population again
and again broke forth in applause dur
ing the ceremony. At the moment
the crown was actually placed on her
head by Archbishop Howley the
shouts and applause OF the spectators
reverberated through the Abbey like
peals Of thunder. The hallelu5ah
chorus was sung by choir and or
chestra Of four hundred.
The old custom Of coronation pro-
cession was revived and the cavalcade
was made q spectacle Of SURPRISING
splendor. After the ceremony ban
quet was held at the palace and later.
at Apsley Hall. ball was given at
tended by over two thousand dancers.
On the night Of the coronation every
theatre In London was thrown open
to the public. -
One frequently thinks Of q kings
crown as Of definite shape and de-
sign: but such Is rarely the case. In
England there have been many
crowns. Athelstane's. for instance. re-
sembled an earIs. q fillet Of gold with
eight balls raised on points and with
strawberry leaves between the points.
Edward the Confessor wore . crown
like q helmet and also a plain dia-
dem. one inch in width, surrounded
with heur-de-lys. It Is recorded that
Richards first crown was SO large and
heavy that 1t had to be supported on
his head by two Of his courtiers.
The sceptres used by the ancient
British kings were surmounted with
crosses. feur-de-lys or birds. The
present one. including the cross. is of