Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the monarch of the United Kingdom is an initiation ceremony in which they are formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, which have all abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. A coronation is a symbolic formality and does not signify the official beginning of the monarch's reign; de jure and de facto their reign commences from the moment of the preceding monarch's death or abdication, maintaining legal continuity of the monarchy.
George VI receiving the homage after being crowned in 1937; watercolour by Henry Charles Brewer
Coronation of Harold II at Westminster Abbey in 1066, from the Bayeux Tapestry
Coronation of Henry IV at Westminster Abbey in 1399
Alexander III of Scotland at his coronation aged eight at Scone Abbey in 1249, being greeted by the royal poet who will recite the king's genealogy
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers to the ceremony which marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special vows by the new monarch, the investing and presentation of regalia him or her, and acts of homage by the new monarch's subjects. In certain Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, coronation is a religious rite. As such, Western-style coronations have often included anointing the monarch with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called; the anointing ritual's religious significance follows examples found in the Bible. The monarch's consort may also be crowned, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event.
The coronation of Charles VII of France (1429), detail of the painting Jeanne d'Arc (1886–1890) by Jules Eugène Lenepveu
Miniature of Charlemagne crowned emperor by Pope Leo III, from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, vol. 1; France, second quarter of 14th century.
Roger II of Sicily receiving his crown directly from Jesus Christ, mosaic from Martorana, Palermo
An ancient coronation from the Indian subcontinent