The Coronation Scroll tells the story of the ceremony in a succession of 57 hand-sewn, hand-written and illustrated pages. The tradition dates back to 1308, but for Charles some changes were made.
Charles III was crowned on May 6, 2023 and has had a very busy year since. A few days before the first anniversary of the event, the Coronation Scroll was presented to the King and Queen. It is a 21 meter long document that records the ceremony and provides a series of new features to the tradition. For the first time since 1308, this scroll will not be made from animal skin and will have a digital version.
“The Coronation Rolls are the record of the accession and coronation of a monarch,” can be read in a video posted on the royal family’s Instagram account. The tradition of making this object began in 1308, during the reign of Edward II, and at that time it was written in Latin and French. There are three big new features in this new reel. For the first time, the document was made on vegan and “high-quality animal-free” paper instead of calfskin. It represents the anointing of the King, which is a part of the ceremony that cannot be seen. And there is a digitalized version, which the public can access at this link, and which has videos and photographs of the coronation, as well as exclusive interviews with the participants of the event.
The first page of the Coronation Scroll of Charles III and Camilla
The document is handwritten by calligrapher Stephanie Gill and in the same font (Copperplate) that was used on the coronation scrolls of Elizabeth II and George VI. It is 11,500 words and colorful illustrations, with information about planning the coronation and a description of the ceremony including the people involved, the music, the organization of Westminster Abbey and even the flowers. Charles and Camilla’s scroll begins with a heraldic decoration made by artist Timothy Noad, according to the Telegraph, where you can see the King’s shield with the lion, the unicorn and the shield. Below you can see the flowers that are national symbols (the English rose, the Scottish thistle, the Welsh leek and the Northern Irish shamrock) around St. Edward’s wreath.
This new scroll was created by Antonia Romeo, secretary of the crown in the Chancery, a division of the Supreme Court of Justice, and made by artisans. Romeo and Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, presented the Coronation Scroll to the king and queen this week at Buckingham Palace. The royal house published a video on its social networks where you can see Carlos and Camila enjoying the document displayed on a table. Just as they saw the digital version on a big screen.
The roll is 21 meters long and consists of 57 pages of Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper which is made of cotton and the pages are sewn together. There are 17 earlier coronation scrolls held in the British National Archives.
Source: Observadora
