Buckingham Palace has released details about the various thrones that King Charles III and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, will use during their formal coronation ceremony on May 6.
One of them, according to the woman who was tasked with sprucing it up, is “the oldest surviving piece of furniture still used for its original purpose, so it’s incredibly rare.”
Krista Blessley, Paintings Conservator at Westminster Abbey in London, spent weeks before the coronation giving the incredibly fragile “Coronation Chair,” also known as St. Edwards Chair, a makeover.
The Coronation Chair’s role
Built in 1309, the six-and-a-half-foot tall throne made of Baltic oak has “been used for every coronation of an English monarch, with a few exceptions, since then,” Blessley told CBS News. She said a lot of the renovation work involved “sticking those layers of gilding back down and making sure it’s completely sound before the coronation.”
Buckingham Palace said St Edward’s Chair would be used, as it has been for centuries, for the “moment of crowning”.
Charles and Camilla, who will lose the “Consort” from her title and become simply Queen Camilla upon her crowning, will use several other chairs during the ancient ceremony, however.
According to the palace, the couple will sit in the “Chairs of Estate” and two “Throne Chairs” during other parts of the service.
“In the interests of sustainability, Their Majesties have chosen to use Chairs of Estate and Throne Chairs from the Royal Collection made for previous Coronations,” the palace said in its statement.