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At the joint coronation of William III and Mary II in 1689 a special chair was made for Mary, as William used the ancient chair. Mary's chair is on display in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at the Abbey.
- Marriage
- Coronation
- Burial
- Wax Effigy
She was married, aged 15, to her cousin William, Prince of Orange. For many years they lived in Holland but when the Catholic James II had a son the English authorities called on William to come to England to safeguard the Protestant succession and rule jointly with Mary. Before William reached London James had fled to France. They had no children....
William IIIand Mary II were crowned as joint monarchs in the Abbey on 11th April 1689. The king was crowned in the ancient Coronation Chair so a new chair had to be specially made for Mary's use and this is now in the Abbey collection.
She died of smallpox on 28th December 1694. Her magnificent funeral on 5th March 1695 cost £50,000. She lay in state in the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the choir sang during the procession to the Abbey. The music Henry Purcell composed for the occasion was used at his own funeral a year later. William III did not attend but both Houses of Par...
In 1725 the Abbey acquired life-size wax effigies of the two monarchs, possibly made by Mrs Goldsmith. That of William is a remarkable likeness. Mary was larger and taller (5 feet 11 inches) than her husband (5 feet 6½ inches) and his effigy stands on a cushion beside hers. Underneath her brocaded silk petticoat is a brown leather one with Baroque ...
Apr 21, 2023 · The Royal Family. The Coronation Chair: Here’s What You Need to Know About the 700-Year-Old Artifact. It’s been restored and is ready to shine when King Charles III is officially crowned on May...
May 1, 2023 · 1st May 2023. For centuries, all anointed monarchs have sat upon the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey in one of the most important moments of the ceremony. All anointed monarchs… except...
Since the coronation of King Edward II in 1308, 26 monarchs have been crowned on this chair. It was made by order of his father, King Edward I, who originally commissioned the chair as a ‘relic case’ to house the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone.
May 6, 2023 · Of all the hazards that Westminster Abbey’s 700-year-old Coronation Chair has survived – a suffragette bomb, schoolboys with penknives, thick brown paint, the violent theft of the Stone of...
Mar 23, 2023 · William was crowned in the original Coronation Chair while a special copy of the chair was made for Mary, the daughter of James II. The chair was also used by Oliver Cromwell during his installation as Lord Protector in 1653; it was taken from Westminster Abbey to Westminster Hall for the ceremony.
