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Queen Victoria kept a
detailed Journal during her lifetime and wrote a long description of her
coronation day, a unique record of the event. When she arrived at Westminster
Abbey, the heavy red velvet and ermine mantle of her Parliament robe, with its
eight-foot-long train, was added for the procession down the nave to the
prepared ‘theatre’ in the Abbey. (The
robe is made up of a kirtle and mantle: the kirtle fits over the gown or
uniform like a tunic/weskit; the mantle is an over-garment with a train, worn
over the kirtle.)
According to historian Kay
Staniland in In Royal Fashion, “following
the formal rituals of the recognition and oath,” the Queen, in the privacy of
St Edward’s Chapel (which is hidden behind a stone wall behind the high altar)
“was divested of the Parliament robe…. Normally a king was disrobed in full
view of the congregation; however, from motives of delicacy, anointing on the
breast was omitted at Victoria’s coronation and she therefore re-entered the
‘theatre’ already wearing the cloth of gold supertunica
over her colobium sindonis.”
The linen colobium sindonis is a plain linen
garment, with sacred ritual associations—“a simple, humble gown which contrasts
with the regal splendour of the robes.“ This is tied or sashed over the queen’s
satin gown…kind of like a full-size bib to cover and protect the formal gown. Then
this richly woven gold supertunica is
worn over it all and “is the second robe used in the ceremony”; there will be
others!
“Seated on St Edward’s chair,
beneath a cloth of gold canopy held by four knights of the Garter, Victoria was
anointed, on her forehead only, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is the
most solemn part of the coronation ceremony.” Moving from the sacred chair, “the
Queen was then robed in her dalmatica and
returned to St Edward’s Chair for the crowning and investiture with regalia.”
(The dalmatica for Victoria—another “cloth of gold” but this one has a
train—was "crafted in a resplendent gold tissue cloth embellished with British
emblems in an ornate print: purple thistles, pink roses with green leaves,
golden eagles and green shamrocks"…. )
“When the homage and
remainder of the service were completed, the Queen retired to the privacy of St
Edward’s Chapel to be divested of her cloth of gold robes” (there were two by
now!), “which by tradition were left at Westminster.”
Now arrayed in a purple velvet robe (ie, kirtle and mantle)—not the red velvet Parliamentary robe she
wore in—and “wearing the Imperial State Crown…” (and, indeed, a special crown had to be made to fit Victoria’s petite head!) “…and carrying her scepter
and orb, she processed back down the nave and out the Abbey to the state coach,
which took her back, in a long impressive procession along a crowded route [of
cheering subjects], to Buckingham Palace.” Back home at last!!
The marvelous costume
designer for the first season of “Victoria” on PBS, Rosalind Ebbutt, had to either
faithfully recreate all of this coronation finery—gowns and robes and tunics
and more—or “hire” pieces from the various well-stocked-up-on regalia costume
houses in London! ~
[Images above are slides from my "Something Most Royal" presentation.]
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