«Unity in Diversity: Russia and the English-Speaking World»

«Unity in Diversity: Russia and the English-Speaking World»

Coronation feasts in the countries of Western Europe

The representation of the monarch: symbols of power, gowns, rituals

By Safina Alyona

A second-year student of Zaraisk teacher training college  

In 2013 the world celebrated two memorable dates connected with two Royal families - the sixtieth anniversary of Elisabeth II Coronation, the representative of the Windsors, and four hundred years of the Imperial House of Romanov. Elisabeth II is a reigning monarch, coming from an old noble family, and Nikolas II was the last Russian sovereign, who took a martyr’s death in 1918. In our essay we want to consider some facts concerning their coronations.  

Let the lady come first. We would like to start with Elisabeth II. The coronation of the new Sovereign follows some months after his or her accession, following a period of mourning and as a result of the enormous amount of preparation required to organise the ceremony. In the UK the coronation ceremony has remained essentially the same over a thousand years. As we know, for the last 900 years, the ceremony has taken place at Westminster Abbey, London. The service is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Present are representatives of the Houses of Parliament, Church and State, prime ministers and leading citizens from the Commonwealth and representatives of other countries.

The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia. The coronation usually takes place several months after the death of the previous monarch. A joyous occasion would be inappropriate during mourning. Also the planners have enough time to complete the arrangements required. Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June 1953; having ascended the throne on 6 February 1952 after the death of George IV, her father. The sovereign is first presented to, and acclaimed by, the people. He or she then swears an oath to uphold the law and the Church. Following that, the monarch is anointed with oil, crowned, and invested with the regalia, before receiving the homage of his or her subjects. The recipe of the oil contains oils of orange flowers, roses, jasmine, cinnamon, musk, civet and ambergris, although it is a secret. The consecration of the oil is arranged by the Dean of Westminster and performed by a bishop. In 1953 the blessing was performed by the Bishop of Gloucester.

There is no doubt that the coronation is an occasion celebration, but it is also a solemn religious ceremony. Today, the Sovereign undertakes to rule according to law, to exercise justice with mercy - promises symbolised by the four swords in the coronation regalia (the Crown Jewels) - and to maintain the Church of England. The Sovereign is then 'anointed, blessed and consecrated' by the Archbishop, whilst the Sovereign is seated in King Edward's chair. It was made in 1300, and used by every Sovereign since 1626. After receiving the orb and sceptre, the Archbishop places St Edward's Crown on the Sovereign's head. After homage is paid by the Archbishop of Canterbury and senior peers, Holy Communion is celebrated. A Queen consort is crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony. If the new Sovereign is a Queen, her consort is not crowned or anointed at the coronation ceremony. After the present Queen was crowned the Duke of Edinburgh was the first, after the archbishops and bishops, to pay homage to her.

As we know, Queen Elizabeth II's coronation took place on 2 June 1953. It took eight months of research, design and workmanship to make the intricate embroidery of her coronation gown. The gown featured the floral emblems of the countries of the United Kingdom and the other states within the Commonwealth of Nations. It included the English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock. And also Canadian maple leaf, Australian wattle, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute could be seen on it.

It is stated that the gown, like the Elizabeth's wedding dress, was designed by Norman Hartnell.  He had proposed at least eight different dresses. The first one was very simple, similar to that worn by Queen Victoria at her Coronation; the second one was a modern slim-fitting sheath gown, embroidered in gold and so on. Finally, the seventh dress was the Tudor Rose of England, appliqued in gold tissue against white satin, and the eighth one was similar to the seventh, but incorporating the floral emblems of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. The Queen agreed with the last option but asked Hartnell to add some colour and made some adjustments. Hartnell also secretly later added an embroidered extra four-leaved Shamrock on the left side of her dress for good fortune.

On top of the dress, Hartnell designed a plain white linen robe covering the short-sleeved, low-neck gown. The robe, attached to the shoulders, was a crimson velvet mantle edged with ermine and featured two rows of delicately embroidered gold lace and gold filigree. On the Coronation Day, the six maids of honour carried this robe behind the Queen. The dress required the efforts of at least three dressmakers, six embroideresses and the Royal School of Needlework, responsible for the embroidery worked in gold bullion thread. The gown now forms part of the Royal Collection.

The schedule of Elisabeth’s coronation ran the way:

5.00 am –the Westminster Abbey opened; 5.30 am – reporters and cameramen began to take their positions; 7.00 am – the guests began taking their seats; 10.15 am – the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh left Buckingham Palace I the Gold State Coach; 11.20 – the Queen entered the nave of the Abbey; 12.34 – the Queen was crowned.

God Save the Queen who has been reining the United Kingdom for more than sixty years.

The coronation of the Russian monarch was also a religious ceremony of the Russian Orthodox Church. The state church of the Russian Empire referred to the Emperor as the Tsar. The elements of the rituals taken from Byzantine remained as the Tsardom of Russia was transformed into the Russian Empire until the abolition of the monarchy in 1917. Months or even years could pass between the initial accession of the sovereign and the performance of the rituals. The Church thought that the monarch must be anointed and crowned according to the Orthodox rite to have a successful tenure. This service invested the Tsar with political legitimacy. It also bestowed divine authority upon the new ruler. So this fact makes it similar in purpose to other European coronation ceremonies from the medieval era.

The Tsar was considered to be “wedded” to his subjects through the Orthodox coronation service. Sacred and secular, church and state, God and government were all welded together by the coronation service in the person of the anointed Tsar. Russian coronations were always held in Moscow at the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin. The last coronation service of Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna was held on 26 May 1896. As in most European monarchies, the Tsars of Russia retained a sizable collection of Imperial regalia. The Russian crown jewels are currently on exhibit in a museum at the Kremlin. The most important items were the Imperial Crown, the Sceptre, the Orb and the Banner of state.

Starting from Dmitri Donskoi up to Peter the Great Russian rulers used a fourteenth-century gold filigree cap with sable trimming, pearls and precious stones – the Cap of Monomakh. Peter the Great replaced it with a diadem modeled on the crowns of the Holy Roman emperors. For the coronation of Catherine the Great court jewelers created a new crown – the Great Imperial Crown. It was a mitre divided into two half-spheres with a central arch between them topped by diamonds and a 398,72-caret red spinel from China. This nine-pound crown was used in all coronations from Paul to Nicholas II, although the last Emperor tried to replace it with Monomakh’s Crown but failed to do it. Alexandra Fedorovna was crowned with the “Smaller Imperial Crown”.

The Imperial scepter had “a burnished shaft of three sections containing eight rings of brilliant-cut diamonds”, topped by the Orlov Diamond surmounted by a double-headed eagle with the coat of arms of Russia at its centre. The orb consisted a polished hallow ball made from red gold encircled by two rows of diamonds and surmounted by a large sapphire topped by a cross.

Each Tsar had a Banner of State made   for his coronation and reign. This banner was blessed on the eve of the coronation, in the armory room of the Kremlin Palace. The new ruler made a great processional entrance on horseback into Moscow, accompanied by multiple cavalry squadrons and the pealing of thousands of church bells. Following the entry the Tsar and the entourage had time to rest and prepare for the ceremony. Receptions were held for foreign diplomats, the Banner of State was consecrated, and the regalia were brought from the Kremlin armory to the throne hall for the procession to the cathedral. On the day of the Tsar’s entry Moscow a three-day holiday was proclaimed, fines were remitted and prisoners were pardoned.  

Metropolitan Palladium conducted the coronation. He gave the State crown to Nicholas II who with a smooth movement   put it on his head. The Queen stood on her knees behind him. Then His Imperial Majesty crowned the Queen with a smaller crown. The Empress rose and they kissed each other. Then they sat on thrones. Nicholas II was dressed in a military uniform, and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wore a splendid dress of silver brocade. The embroidery of the dress was done by the nuns of Ivanivo Monastery. A well-known jeweler Faberge created “Coronation” Easter egg in 1897 to commemorate the occasion.

In conclusion, we must admit that both Russian and British coronation traditions reflect the deep historical roots of our cultures. The religious and sociable significance of this ceremony mustn’t be underestimated.