Anointed and Crowned - The Coronation Quiz

Answer: Bath

Edgar became King of the English (the title generally used by Anglo-Saxon Kings of England) in 959 following the death of his elder brother, Eadwig. Although there is no record of any kind of coronation at the start of his reign, some historians believe that there must have been one in order to cement his royal authority. However, the evidence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that Edgar in fact did not have a coronation at the beginning of his reign, instead waiting until he reached the age of around 30 to have a full coronation. This occurred in 973, at a time in his reign that Edgar had achieved considerable success, to the point of being proclaimed as overlord over the whole of the island of Great Britain.

The coronation of 973 took place at Bath Abbey, of which Edgar had been a patron since his accession. The ceremony was extensively covered in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which provides much of the evidence of what took place, including a number of elements that remain recognisable to the present. Following his coronation in Bath, Edgar sailed to Chester to hold a council, where a number of other kings, as a symbol of their fealty, rowed Edgar across the River Dee, accepting him as their overlord.

Answer: Kingston upon Thames

The Coronation Stone is an ancient sarsen block located next to the Guildhall in Kingston-upon-Thames, although it was previously believed to be located in the church of St Mary's, which collapsed in 1730. Three Anglo-Saxon monarchs, Æthelstan in 925, Eadred in 946 and Æthelred in 979, were all consecrated in Kingston, while evidence exists that four other monarchs were also crowned there - Edward the Elder, Edmund I, Eadwig and Edward the Martyr.

Although the sixteenth century historian John Stow claimed that Æthelstan was crowned on a stage in the marketplace of Kingston, subsequent evidence suggests that the old church of St Mary's was in fact the location of the ceremonies. Following the church's collapse, a large stone block was extracted from the ruins, which was then regarded as the "coronation stone" of ancient English kings. In 1850, the stone was placed on a plinth, which had the names of the seven Anglo-Saxon kings inscribed on it, in front of Kingston's old town hall.

Answer: Bishop of London

While the Archbishop of Canterbury traditionally officiates at the Coronation, there have been instances where this has not been the case, for various reasons. The last time that the Archbishop of Canterbury did not officiate was the Coronation of 1689 - the then holder of the office, William Sancroft, had refused to swear an oath to the new joint monarchs, William III and Mary II, and so the Bishop of London, Henry Compton, crowned the King and Queen instead. Sancroft was subsequently deprived of his position the following year.

Of the handful of instances where the Archbishop of Canterbury has not officiated, two significant ones both relate to splits in the church. In 1066, William I was crowned by Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, owing to the fact that the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, had been appointed by Antipope Benedict X, and was thus not recognised by the Pope. At her coronation in 1553, Mary I, who was a devout Catholic, was crowned by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, having refused to receive the crown from Thomas Cranmer, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury.

Answer: George Friedrich Handel

"Zadok the Priest" was originally composed in 1727 by Handel as one of four coronation anthems for the coronation that year of George II. The text of the anthem is derived from the "Unxerunt Salomonem", an antiphon (short chant) based on the biblical story of the anointing of Solomon by Zadok. While the words have been used in every coronation since that of Edgar in 973, they were set to music for the coronations of both Charles I in 1626 and Charles II in 1661. The version written in 1661, with music by Henry Lawes, was also used in 1685 for the coronation of James II.

The version of "Zadok the Priest" written by Handel was used for the first time at George II's coronation on 11 October 1727. During the service, the choir of Westminster Abbey sung the anthem in the wrong part of the service, having earlier forgotten to sing another of the anthems produced for it. Since 1727, "Zadok the Priest" has been used at every subsequent coronation.

Answer: George I

On 20 October 1714, George I was crowned at Westminster Abbey. The new king was German, and had come to the throne by virtue of his being the first available Protestant in the line of succession following the death of his predecessor, Queen Anne. Under the terms of the 1701 Act of Settlement, all Catholics in line to the throne had been barred from succeeding. Upon his arrival in England, the new king had dismissed the incumbent Tory administration, which was loyal to the Church of England, and instead installed a Whig government consisting largely of Protestant dissenters.

Following the coronation, celebrations to the new king took place around the country but, in the southwest of England, supporters of the Tory, High Church tradition rioted and attacked people celebrating the coronation. Following the end of the rioting, the government made an attempt to bring rioters to London for trial, as they did not trust local courts to prosecute them, an effort that was unsuccessful. After riots the following year during the General Election campaign, the Whig government passed the Riot Act in an effort to stem potential disorder.

Answer: Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross

The Cullinan diamond was extracted from a diamond mine at Cullinan in South Africa in January 1905. The 3,100 carat diamond was the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered, and was purchased in 1907 by the government of Transvaal, which presented it to King Edward VII. The following year, the diamond was taken to Amsterdam where it was cut by Joseph Ascher, then regarded as the greatest diamond cutter of the day. Ascher crafted the single diamond into a total of nine major stones, with the two largest becoming property of the Crown.

The largest stone, named as Cullinan I, or the Great Star of Africa, is a 530 carat pendeloque cut stone with 74 facets. Although it is primarily set in the Sceptre with Cross, one of the two sceptres held by the monarch prior to receiving St Edward's Crown at the coronation (and which had to be redesigned to accommodate it), the stone is fitted with loops to allow it to also be worn as a pendent suspended from the Cullinan II diamond. Cullinan II, the second largest stone, is usually set within the Imperial State Crown.

Answer: Sheffield

In late 1901, Edward Elgar was commissioned by he Covent Garden Grand Opera Syndicate to write a piece intended to be played at a gala to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII, which was planned for June 1902. As part of the planned piece, the King suggested to Elgar that the first of his Pomp and Circumstance marches be used, if words could be provided.

As a result, Elgar recruited writer AC Benson to produce the libretto for the piece. Elgar and Benson largely finished the six parts of the new ode by the end of May 1902, and prepared for its premiere with a choir rehearsal in Sheffield, followed by an orchestra rehearsal at Covent Garden. This was in time for the planned gala premiere, in the presence of the King and Queen, on 30 June.

However, two days before the date of the coronation, the King had to undergo surgery on his appendix, which led to the ceremony being postponed. This led to the cancellation of the planned celebrations, including the gala at which Elgar and Benson's piece was to be premiered. Instead, the first performance took place at the Sheffield Festival, with Elgar conducting on 2 October 1902. In June 1903, at a concert held in aid of the Union Jack Club, the Coronation Ode was finally played for the King and Queen.

Answer: William III

St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the coronation regalia, as it is the crown that the monarch receives at the climax of the ceremony - as such, it is only worn at the coronation. The crown was commissioned by Charles II following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, with the intention that it be as close as possible a replica of the crown used prior to the English Civil War (1642-1651) and the overthrow of his father, Charles I. The crown was completed in time for Charles II's coronation in 1661, and was subsequently used at the coronations of James II in 1685, and William III and Mary II in 1689 (at which it was used by William III).

However, the accession of the next king, George I, saw a new crown commissioned - the State Crown of George I was used to crown George I, George II, George III and William IV, while George IV commissioned his own crown, while the weight of St Edward's Crown saw Victoria use the lighter Imperial State Crown. Edward VII intended to use St Edward's Crown but, at the time of his coronation in August 1902, he was still recuperating from surgery on his appendix, leading to him using the same crown as his mother. As a result, it was George V in 1911 who became the instigator of the new tradition of using St Edward's Crown.

Answer: George V

The Imperial Durbar, also known as the Delhi Durbar, was a mass-assembly organised at Coronation Park, a large open space in Delhi, as a way of marking the succession of the new Emperor or Empress of India. The first such event took place in January 1877, and was referred to as the "Proclamation Durbar", as it was used to proclaim Queen Victoria as Empress of India following the passage of the Royal Titles Act the previous year, which granted her the title. The 1877 Durbar was seen as the culmination in the transfer of control over British India from the East India Company to the Crown. The second Durbar, which was held in 1903 after the accession of King Edward VII, and lasted for two weeks, was a much more elaborate affair than the first.

In 1911, the third Durbar took place to celebrate the accession of George V. For the first time, the King, alongside Queen Mary, actually attended, having taken three weeks to reach India. The event took place in December 1911, beginning with a grand state entry into Delhi. The King and Queen remained in India until January 1912. A fourth Durbar was planned following the accession of George VI for 1937 or 1938, but this was postponed owing to the changing political situation in India, which saw increasing calls for independence. The idea was ultimately abandoned following the outbreak of the Second World War.

Answer: Norway

Many of the existing European monarchies had not seen a full coronation for centuries, if at all. Neither the Dutch nor Belgian monarchies have ever physically crowned their new monarchs, with both undergoing a more simple inauguration ceremony at which the monarch swears the required oaths. While the Netherlands has a set of regalia that is present at this ceremony, Belgium has never had crown jewels. Of the other monarchies, the last Danish king to be physically crowned was Frederick III in 1648, after which Denmark's elective monarchy was replaced by an absolute one, which saw the coronation instead become an anointing ceremony that lasted until the 1840s. Swedish coronations ended following the coronation of Oscar II in 1873, as subsequent Swedish monarchs elected not to have a coronation, while Spanish monarchs have not been physically crowned since the 15th century.

Although Norway has traditionally been a monarchy, with its first king crowned in the 1160s, the modern Norwegian monarchy dates from 1905, when the personal union between Norway and Sweden ended, and Prince Carl of Denmark was selected by the Norwegian people as their new king, using the name Haakon VII. In 1906, King Haakon and Queen Maud were crowned at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim in a ceremony mandated by Norway's constitution. However, two years later this part of the constitution was removed. In 1957, King Olav V came to the throne - while he understood why the requirement for a coronation was removed, he still felt that a religious ceremony of some kind to start his reign, as well as see him begin his role as head of the Church of Norway, was needed. So, he devised a "consecration" ceremony called the "Signing til kongsgjerning" ('Blessing the King for his Reign'), which was held in Trondheim in June 1958, and which his successor, Harald V, also underwent in 1991.