Public Lecture: The Coronation – its History and Symbolism - SOLD OUT

The Coming Coronation – Its History, Symbolism and Significance
Public Lecture by the Revd Professor Ian Bradley
Sunday April 16th, 5pm. Tickets have sold out. Please email [email protected] to join the cancellation waiting list. 

The United Kingdom is the only country which still marks the accession of a new monarch with a coronation. It is the coronation more than any other event that underlines the sacred nature of the United Kingdom monarchy. Packed with religious symbolism and imagery, it exudes mystery and magic, binds together church and state through the person of the monarch and clearly proclaims the derivation of all power and authority from God and the Christian basis on which government is exercised, justice administered and the state defended.

At their coronations kings and queens are not simply crowned and enthroned but consecrated, set apart and anointed with holy oil, dedicated to God and invested with sacerdotal garb and symbolic regalia. Here we still find the divinity which, as Shakespeare observed, hedges the throne.

The coronation of King Charles III on 6th May, the first in the United Kingdom for 70 years, will focus attention on the sacred and spiritual dimension of the British monarchy, so often overlooked in favour of constitutional questions or celebrity style gossip and revelations.

Coronations are religious services rather than constitutional ceremonies.

This lecture by Ian Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History, and author of God Save the King: The Sacred Nature of Monarchy, will explore the origins and historical development of the coronation, key elements and symbolism, and the way they have been interpreted by both religious and secular commentators.



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