Caroline of Brunswick

Moments in London’s history – Five unusual facts about royal coronations past…

by exploringlondon
Westminster Abbey, scene of coronations for more than 950 years. PICTURE: Benjamin Elliott/Unsplash.

Ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, here’s five unusual facts about coronations of bygone eras…

1. Queen Mary I did not use the Coronation Chair during her coronation on 1st October, 1553. An ardent Catholic, the Queen apparently believed the ancient seat had been tainted by her half-brother Edward VI’s Protestantism and so was crowned in a different chair. The chair is said to have been sent to her by the Pope but what became of it remains something of a mystery. The Queen also had a new, special supply of coronation oil for the anointing part of the ceremony made and sent to her by the Bishop of Arras for the same reason – that Edward had “polluted” the previous oil.

2. So many things went wrong at Queen Victoria’s coronation that a group of historians was established to examine the history of coronations and create a more structured ceremony. The mishaps during the five hour ceremony included the Queen having the Coronation Ring painfully forced into the wrong finger, the Bishop of Bath and Wells prematurely announcing that the ceremony had ended, and the elderly Lord John Rolle falling down a flight of steps when making his homage to the Queen (the Queen then graciously went down to him rather than have him attempt the steps again).

3. Two (or possibly three) English monarchs never had coronations. They include King Edward V – one of the “Princes in the Tower” who became king following the death of his father, Edward IV, on 9th April, 1483, but who then disappeared with his brother Richard after last being seen in the Tower of London (King Richard III was subsequently crowned King instead). They also include King Edward VIII who, having became king on 20th January, 1936, abdicated in December that year before his coronation was held (King George VI was subsequently crowned on the date set for Edward’s coronation – 12th May, 1937). And, depending on whether you accept her monarchy, Lady Jane Grey, who reigned for only nine days before she was executed.

4. King Edward VII’s coronation had to be delayed because of an emergency appendectomy operation. The ceremony, which had originally been scheduled for 26th June, 1902, took place some weeks later than planned on 9th August – and was then marred when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, placed the crown back-to-front on the King’s head.

5. King George IV refused to let his wife Queen Caroline attend his coronation. Such was the acrimonious nature of their relationship that, having already been informed she was not welcome at the event, Caroline found the doors to Westminster Abbey barred to her when she attempted to enter as he was being crowned on 19th July, 1821. After repeated attempts to enter, she was eventuallys forced to leave without having gained entry.

10 (more) historic London garden squares…5. Brunswick Square…

by exploringlondon

This Bloomsbury square is another that’s one of a pair – in this case with Mecklenburgh Square which stands on the other side of the site of the now-demolished Foundling Hospital (across what’s now known as Coram’s Fields).

The three acre square was planned by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, who was appointed to develop the estate around the hospital with the intention of maintaining some open space around the hospital while allowing spare land to be leased for housing (and so raise some much needed funds for the hospital).

The square was over the period 1795-1802 while the gardens in the square’s middle were laid out in in the late 1790s (initially for use by residents only, they’re now open to the public).

The name comes from Caroline of Brunswick, wife of the then Prince Regent (later King George IV).

The square, which is Grade II-listed along with Coram’s Fields and Mecklenburgh Square, was a respectable if not highly fashionable residential location.

Famous residents have included numerous members of the Bloomsbury Group such as siblings Virginia (later Woolf) and Adrian Stephen, economist John Maynard Keynes and Leonard Woolf – all of whom lived in the same property (Virginia and Leonard moved out of the square when they married in 1912) as well as EM Forster. Writer JM Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, also lived for a time in a house overlooking the square.

Jane Austen refers to the square in Emma in which her sister Isabella praises it as “very superior to most others” and “very airy”.

All of the original buildings around the square have since been demolished and replaced – among them number is 40 which was built for the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in the 1920s and now houses the Foundling Museum (there’s a statue of the hospital’s founder Thomas Coram outside by William MacMillan – pictured right).

The north side of the square is home to the UCL School of Pharmacy, the west side features tiered apartments which form part of the Grade II-listed Brunswick Centre development, which dates from the late 1960s and early 1970s, while on the south side is the university residence known as International Hall.

The gardens were extensively renovated in 2002-03 by Camden Council; works which included restoration of railings apparently taken for munitions during World War II. Its trees include a London plane tree, said to be the second oldest in London, which in 2009 was declared one of the Great Trees of Britain.

On one of the garden’s railings, close to the statue of Captain Coram, is a tiny bronze sculpture of a mitten by artist Tracey Emin, a fitting symbol of the childhoods connected with the Foundling Hospital.

PICTURES: Top – Looking across Brunswick Square Gardens (Google Maps); Right – Thomas Coram (David Adams).