The coronation is an ancient ritual. The first descriptions of the ceremony date back to before 1000 BC: crowns, rings and scepters, the symbols of the king's power, were used, but usually these objects were made new for each monarch.

It was only after the reign of Edward the Confessor that the tradition of a single, sacred collection of "regalia" emerged. One hundred years after his death, Edward was declared a saint and the objects connected to him were declared sacred relics.

A crown, said to be his, was used in the coronation of Henry III in 1220 and then carefully preserved for future monarchs. A number of other insignia were added, used for each coronation. But most of these objects were destroyed in 1649, after the execution of King Charles I. It was his son Charles II who commissioned new, even more sumptuous ones.

During the coronation of Charles III some of these are offered to the King by the Peers of the House of Lords and senior bishops of the Church of England.

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The regalia used on the occasion of the coronation of George VI

The Spurs

They were made in 1661 for King Charles II, but their use in coronations dates back to King Richard I, in 1189. Their symbolic meaning comes from the time when the monarch rode at the head of an army. Today they represent the courage and the will to defend those in need.

The swords

The coronation of Charles III is the first in which the Sword of State and the Sword of the Offering are carried by a woman, Penny Mordaunt.

The state sword is the symbol of 'royal authority': formed by a steel blade with a golden hilt, it has a scabbard covered with velvet. It is among the last of the ragalia delivered to the King.

Made in 1820, the Sword of the Offering has a steel blade, mounted in gold and set with jewels, forming a rose, a thistle, a clover, oak leaves, acorns, and lion heads. The sword is contained in a leather scabbard covered with gold, used for the first time at the coronation of King George IV.

The swords offered to the King are a symbol of defense, authority and justice. There is also a religious significance: they are the symbol of the defense of the word of God that St. Paul compares to a sharp sword.

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The Sword of State

The other swords presented to the king each represent a royal virtue. The tradition dates back to the coronation of Richard the Lionheart, in 1189, but the current ones were made for the coronation of Charles I, in 1626, and are among the very few objects that survived the civil war: they are the sword of spiritual Justice, that of Temporal Justice and that of Mercy (also known as Curtana), which precisely because of Mercy, It has the blade symbolically blunt in the tip.

The ampoule and spoon

In the most solemn part of the ceremony, the eagle-shaped 'ampulla' is used. It contains the oil consecrated in Jerusalem with which the Archbishop of Canterbury anoints the King. Made in 1661 by the royal goldsmith, it has a small opening in the 'beak' from which comes out the oil that is poured into the coronation spoon.

The reference is to the legend according to which the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Thomas Becket and presented him with a golden eagle and a vial of oil to anoint the future kings of England.

The oldest object in the collection, however, is the coronation spoon, dated twelfth century, the only object dating back to the Middle Ages.

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The ampoule and spoon

Bracelets

The bracelets of "sincerity and wisdom" are made of gold and enamel with a sumptuous velvet lining, decorated with national symbols including rose, thistle, fleur de lis. It is the archbishop who fixes the 'armillis' to the wrists of the monarch.

Golden Globe of the Sovereign

Made of gold and set with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds and pearls, the globe represents the Christian world, with its cross mounted on top and is traditionally placed in the right hand of the monarch before being placed on the altar.

It is the representation of the terrestrial globe of course, but it is hollow and divided into three segments, two in the upper hemisphere and one lower, representing the three continents that were known in medieval times.

The globe is placed in the hand of the monarch while it is invested with the insignia just before the moment of coronation during the ceremony; During the procession outside the abbey after the ceremony, the monarch carries the globe in his left hand.

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The Golden Globe

The Sovereign's Ring

It has a sapphire superimposed on rubies in the shape of a cross of St. George, set in a border of diamonds. The ring is placed on the fourth finger of the sovereign as a symbol of 'royal dignity' and 'marriage' between the monarch and the people. And

The glove

Charles III will wear the glove made for the coronation of his grandfather, King George VI in 1937. The white leather glove lined with red silk satin covers the hand, wrist and part of the forearm.

The glove, the historic Dents factory in Warminster, Wiltshire made an identical duplicate "just in case". The family-run business founded in 1777 has long been linked to the British royal family.

Deborah Moore, current CEO of Dents, expressed satisfaction with the "eco-friendly" choice of the king which is also a reference to the family heritage and tradition: "We made the glove of his grandfather, his great-grandfather King George V and also King Edward". According to Deborah Moore, the making of gloves for George VI at the Worcester factory in 1937 took "probably two or three days of work".

Charles will wear the original one, kept in a private royal collection in London and "refurbished" for the occasion. It will be the ninety-year-old Lord Singh of Wimbledon to wear the glove at the coronation on May 6 and Charles III will wear it on his right hand to hold the scepter of the sovereign.

The two scepters

The Scepter of the Sovereign with the Cross represents temporal power and is associated with Good Government: it is a golden rod studded with emeralds, amethysts, rubies, spinels, sapphires and diamonds. In 1910 it was modified because it was set with the Cullinan I, the Star of Africa, a diamond weighing 530.2 carats: the diamond is so large that the scepter had to be reinforced to support its weight.

The Scepter of the Sovereign with the Dove, also called 'the rod of fairness and mercy', is instead a golden rod set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, surmounted by an enamelled dove, which represents the spiritual role of the monarch, with the dove with its wings spread representing the Holy Spirit. Together with the Scepter of the Sovereign with the Cross, it is the last piece of insignia delivered to the monarch before being crowned.

The clubs, the sword of state, and the staff of St. Edward

Two glittering golden clubs, carried by a pair of sergeants at arms, will be some of the first pieces you will see. The mace, made of silver gilded oak, is a physical symbol of the monarch's authority. The clubs made of gilded silver on oak date back to the period between 1660 and 1695. The state sword is the symbol of royal authority: formed by a steel blade with a golden hilt, it has a scabbard covered with velvet. If the coronation procession will largely follow the same format as in 1953, the other piece you will immediately see is the staff of St. Edward: a long gold rod with a steel tip on one end: it is used as a relic of St. Edward the Confessor, the English king whose shrine is located in Westminster Abbey.

The crowns

Charles III will wear the crown of St. Edward, while Queen Camilla will wear that of Queen Mary with some changes in its structure. Before leaving the abbey, at the end of the ceremony, Charles will leave the crown of St. Edward and put on his head for the first time the imperial crown, which he will then have to use every year at the opening ceremony of Parliament.

The Crown of St. Edward is made of solid gold and was made in 1661: it weighs 2 kilograms, is covered with rubies, amethysts, grenades, topazes, tourmalines and sapphires and is used only at the time of coronation. It is designed with four crosses, four fleurs-de-lis and two arches, with a small globe and a cross on top. Accompanied by a purple velvet cap and an ermine sash, it was modified to fit the monarch's head.

Lighter the Imperial Crown that will be worn by the king, finally crowned, to leave Westminster Abbey and cross the streets of London. The term "Imperial State Crown" dates back to the fifteenth century when English monarchs chose a design of the crown closed by arches to show that England was not subject to any other earthly power.

It is set with 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls. Among the most famous stones set, the Sapphire of St. Edward, which is said to have been worn in a ring by Edward the Confessor, and the Ruby of the Black Prince. The four pearls hanging from the top of the arch are also said to have been worn as earrings or hair ornaments by Elizabeth I. Also set on the crown is the Cullinan II diamond, the second largest stone cut from the large Cullinan diamond, which weighs 317.4 carats.

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The Crown of St. Edward