The History of Coronations

Some of the details about past coronations are unclear, but we do have a good idea of when, where and by whom most of our monarchs were crowned.

In England, before the Conquest, the Kings of Wessex were installed on the King’s Stone, which is still to be found near the parish church at Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey.

Before the Conquest

The first coronation in our recorded history is that of Alfred the Great in about 871.

Date of Coronation	Monarch	Place of Coronation	Prelate or other Official
?871	Alfred The Great	Kingston or Winchester	?Ethelred, Archbishop of Canterbury
8 June 900	Edward The Elder	Kingston	Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury
5 Sept 925	Athelstan	Kingston	?Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
16 Nov 940	Edmund I	Kingston	Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury
?Jan 956	Edwy	Kingston	Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury
11 May 973	Edgar and Elfrida	Bath Abbey	Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury and Oswald, Archbishop of York
?July 975	Edward The Martyr	Kingston	Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
14 Apr 979	Ethelred II	Kingston	Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
? Apr 1016	Edmund II Ironside	St Paul’s Cathedral	?
6 Jan 1017	Canute	St Paul’s Cathedral	?
? 1037	Harold I Harefoot	Oxford	?
18 June 1040	Hardicanute	Canterbury	Eadsige, Archbishop of Canterbury
3 Apr 1043	Edward The Confessor	Winchester Cathedral	Eadsige, Archbishop of Canterbury and Ethelric, Archbishop of York
? Jan 1045	Edith (wife of Edward The Confessor)	Winchester Cathedral	Eadsige, Archbishop of Canterbury
6 Jan 1066	Harold II	Westminster Abbey	Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury

After the Conquest

Coronations that took place after the Conquest tended to be held at Westminster Abbey, but there are incidents where that did not happen:

Date of Coronation

Monarch

Place of Coronation

Prelate or other Official

25 Dec 1066	William I The Conqueror	Westminster Abbey	Ealdred, Archbishop of York
11 May 1068	Matilda of Flanders (wife of William I)	Winchester Cathedral	Ealdred, Archbishop of York
26 Sept 1087	Wiliam II Rufus	Westminster Abbey	Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
5 Aug 1100	Henry I	Westminster Abbey	Maurice, Bishop of London
11 Nov 1100	Matilda of Scotland (first wife of Henry I)	Westminster Abbey	Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury
3 Feb 1122	Adeliza of Louvain (2nd wife of Henry I)	Westminster Abbey	Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury
26 Dec 1136	Stephen	Westminster Abbey	William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury
22 Mar 1136	Matilda of Boulogne (Wife of Stephen)	Westminster Abbey	William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury
25 Dec 1141	Stephen said to have been recrowned
19 Dec 1154	Henry II	Westminster Abbey	Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury
25 Dec 1158	Eleanor of Aquitaine (wife of Henry II)	Worcester Cathedral	Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury
14 June 1170	Henry ‘The Young King’ (son and heir of Henry II)	Westminster Abbey	Roger of Pont l’Eveque, Archbishop of Canterbury
27 Aug 1172	Henry The Young King recrowned with his wife Margaret of France	Winchester Cathedral	Rotrou, Archbishop of Rouen
3 Sept 1189	Richard I	Westminster Abbey	Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury
12 May 1191	Beregaria of Navarre (wife of Richard I)	Chapel of St George, Lemesos, Cyprus	John FitzLuke, Bishop of Evreux
27 May 1199	John	Westminster Abbey	Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury
8 Oct 1200	Isabella of Angoulême (wife of John)	Westminster Abbey	Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury
28 Oct 1216	Henry III	Gloucester Cathedral	Peter de Roches, Bishop of Winchester
17 May 1220	Henry III (recrowned)	Westminster Abbey	Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury
20 Jan 1236	Eleanor of Provence (wife of Henry III)	Westminster Abbey	Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury
19 Aug 1274	Edward I and Eleanor of Castile	Westminster Abbey	Edward Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury
25 Feb 1308	Edward II and Isabelle of France	Westminster Abbey	Henry Merewell (als Woodlock), Bishop of Winchester
1 or 2 Feb 1327	Edward III	Westminster Abbey	Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury
20 Feb 1328	Philippa of Hainault (wife of Edward III)	Westminster Abbey	Simon Meopham, Archbishop of Canterbury
16 July 1377	Richard II	Westminster Abbey	Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
22 Jan 1382	Anne of Bohemia (1st wife of Richard II)	Westminster Abbey	William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury
8 Jan 1397	Isabelle of France (2nd wife of Richard II)	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury
13 Oct 1399	Henry IV	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury
26 Feb 1403	Joan of Navarre (2nd wife of Henry IV)	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury
9 Apr 1413	Henry V	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury
24 Feb 1421	Catherine of France (wife of Henry V)	Westminster Abbey	Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
6 Nov 1429	Henry VI	Westminster Abbey	Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
30 May 1445	Margaret of Anjou (wife of Henry VI)	Westminster Abbey	John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury
29 June 1461	Edward IV	Westminster Abbey	Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
26 May 1465	Elizabeth Woodville (wife of Edward IV)	Westminster Abbey	Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
6 July 1483	Richard III and Anne Neville	Westminster Abbey	Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
30 Oct 1485	Henry VII	Westminster Abbey	Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
24 Nov 1487	Elizabeth of York (wife of Henry VII)	Westminster Abbey	John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury
24 June 1509	Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon	Westminster Abbey	William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury
1 June 1533	Anne Boleyn (2nd wife of Henry VIII)	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
20 Feb 1547	Edward VI	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
1 Oct 1553	Mary I	Westminster Abbey	Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester
15 Jan 1559	Elizabeth I	Westminster Abbey	Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle
25 July 1603	James I and Anne of Denmark	Westminster Abbey	John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury
2 Feb 1626	Charles I	Westminster Abbey	George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury
23 April 1661	Charles II	Westminster Abbey	William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury
23 April 1685	James II and Mary of Modena	Westminster Abbey	William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury
11 April 1689	William III and Mary II (joint sovereigns)	Westminster Abbey	Henry Compton, Bishop of London
23 April 1702	Anne	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury
20 Oct 1714	George I	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury
11 Oct 1727	George II and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach	Westminster Abbey	William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury
22 Sept 1761	George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Westminster Abbey	Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury
19 July 1821	George IV	Westminster Abbey	Charles Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury
8 Sept 1831	William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen	Westminster Abbey	William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury
28 June 1838	Victoria	Westminster Abbey	William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury
9 Aug 1902	Edward VII	Westminster Abbey	Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury
9 Aug 1902	Alexandra of Denmark (wife of Edward VII)	Westminster Abbey	William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York
22 June 1911	George V and Mary of Teck	Westminster Abbey	Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury
12 May 1937	George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon	Westminster Abbey	Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
2 June 1953	Elizabeth II	Westminster Abbey	Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury
6 May 2023	Charles III and Queen Camilla	Westminster Abbey	Justin Portal Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

Scottish Coronations

The Monarchs of Scotland, before the Union, were crowned or installed at Scone, and took their place on the Stone of Destiny. This stone was said to have been brought to Scotland from Ireland by Fergus Mor MacErc, towards the end of the fourth century, but it is more likely the stone was quarried in the area close to the Palace at Scone. The earliest detailed records of Scottish coronations are those of Malcolm III:

25 April 1058	Malcolm III	Scone	?
? Nov 1093	Donald Bane	Scone	?
? May 1094	Duncan II	Scone	?
?1097	Edgar	Scone	?
? Jan 1107	Alexander I	Scone	?
? May 1124	David I	Scone	?
Summer 1153	Malcolm IV	Scone	?
24 Dec 1165	William The Lion	Scone	Richard, Bishop of St Andrews
6 Dec 1214	Alexander II	Scone	William Malvoisine, Bishop of St Andrews
13 July 1249	Alexander III	Scone	David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews
30 Nov 1292	John Balliol	Scone	?
27 Mar 1306	Robert I	Scone	Isabella, Countess of Buchan
24 Nov 1331	David II and Joan of England	Scone	James Bennet, Bishop of St Andrews
24 Sept 1332	Edward Balliol	Scone	?
26 Mar 1371	Robert II	Scone	William de Laundels, Bishop of St Andrews
? 1372	Euphemia Ross (2nd wife of Robert II)	Scone	Alexander de Kyninmund II, Bishop of Aberdeen
14 Aug 1390	Robert III and Annabella Drummond	Scone	Alexander de Neville, Bishop of St Andrews
21 May 1424	James I and Joan Beaufort	Scone	Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St Andrews
25 Mar 1437	James II	Holyrood	Michael Ochiltree, Bishop of Dunblane
3 July 1449	Marie of Gueldres (wife of James II)	Holyrood	James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews
10 Aug 1460	James III	Kelso Abbey	James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews
13 July 1469	Margaret of Denmark (wife of James III)	Holyrood	Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St Andrews
26 June 1488	James IV	Scone	William Scheves, Archbishop of St Andrews
8 Aug 1503	Margaret Tudor (wife of James IV)	Holyrood
21 Sept 1513	James V	Stirling	?
22 Feb 1540	Mary of Guise (2nd wife of James V)	Holyrood	Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews
9 Sept 1543	Mary	Stirling	Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews
29 July 1567	James VI	Stirling	Gavin Hamilton, Archbishop of St Andrews
17 May 1590	Anne of Denmark (wife of James VI)	Holyrood	?
18 June 1633	Charles I	Edinburgh	John Spottiswode, Archbishop of St Andrews
1 Jan 1651	Charles II	Scone	Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus
Sept 1751	James VIII is said to have been crowned in this month and year, but no details are known	Scone