Crown, Orb and Sceptre: The True Stories of English Coronations - Hardcover

This volume tells the stories of the 38 royal coronations of the English monarchs, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II. Preliminary chapters recount the story in brief of the early ceremonies of monarchs such as King Edgar and Edward the Confessor, with special sections on the Ancient Coronation Stone at Kingston-upon-Thames, the Stone of Scone, and the Order of Service and the Regalia. It shows how the accessories of ritual evolved and how the service was changed and adapted to suit different styles of monarchy. Individual accounts include: the day that a riot broke out outside Westminster Abbey when William the Conqueror was crowned; how everything went wrong at Edward II's coronation, thanks to Piers Gaveston's part in it; of Henrietta Maria's refusal to be crowned by a protestant, an unfortunate portent for the future of her husband, Charles II; of George IV's preposterous costumes and the exclusion of his wife from the Abbey; of how Edward VII was advised by a fortune-teller of the most propitious date to be crowned; and of the head-lice which rushed out of the King's hair at the ceremony for Henry IV.

David Hilliam is a freelance lecturer and writer and contributes to a number of publications. In 1981 he was elected Schoolmaster Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He lives in Dorset, He has written two previous books, 'Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards' and 'Monarchs, Murders and Mistresses'