This morning I watched the coverage on television of the Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s. From my memories of those for the other Jubilees this was one of the better services in terms of structure and content even though it did not have the presence of The Queen herself, or indeed of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the intended preacher.
The BBC coverage was again good, and better than on some previous occasions - one did not have as happened at one other such service that I recall a loquacious commentator talking over the singing of a hymn - and the discussions framing it were again informed and pertinent as well as appropriately entertaining.
This evening I watched Clive Myrie’s programme The Crown Jewels. In an hour he explored something of the history of both the English/British regalia as well as that of the Honours of Scotland. Along the way he looked at the making of the facsimile reproduction of the state crown of King Henry VIII - which I have suggested previously on this blog anf in a lecture to the OXford Heraldry Society was, I believe, originally fashioned in the Lancastrian era and periodically modified. At the Society of Antiquaries the inventory made when the old regalia was destroyed in 1649 was on view as well as the order for the new set in the autumn of 1660.
Technically there was the use of modern filming to reveal the detail of the best known pieces that make up the collection at the Tower including less well known items such as the frame of King George IV’s 182I state crown and the present Prince of Wales’ 1969 coronet.
Potentially there was a series to be made here but the hour long programme is worth looking at on the BBC i Player website.
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