Conserving St Edward’s Chair

Several websites report the conservation work being done both on a continuing basis and also specifically in preparation for the Coronation on St Edward’s Chair in Westminster Abbey.

Every monarch crowned since 1399 has occupied it at their coronation except Queen Mary I in 1553, who had a new chair made for her, and Queen Mary II in 1689 who was seated in a replica alongside her husband sitting in the original at their joint ceremony.

BBC News covers the story at Extremely fragile coronation chair being restored - BBC News and Sky News has a similar report at King Charles coronation: New details discovered on 700-year-old throne - which is covered in graffiti

The Daily Telegraph has additional detail in its account at Coronation Chair strengthened to take weight of King and ancient Stone of Scone

There are videos about the conservation of the Chair from Reuters at Britain's historic coronation throne gets a revamp and from The Independent at New details discovered on 700-year-old chair King Charles will sit on at coronation

Thanks to centuries of not-so-benign neglect, and drastic treatment in the mid-nineteenth century, the Chair is a shadow of its original gilded and painted self. A recreation of what it might have looked like when first completed in 1300 can be seen in the recreated thirteenth century Royal apartments in the Wakefield Tower at the Tower of London: 

Image: travelforkids 

However there is a more accurate depiction of the design in a reconstruction showing the figure of St Edward on the back of the Chair in the excellent video by Allen Barton The Antiquary. This tells the story of the throne and of the Stone of Scone and places the Chair in the context both of Westminster Abbey and of the political and constitutional vision of King Edward I. I strongly recommend readers to watch it at St Edward's Chair - A History of the Medieval Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone

There is a seperate history of the Stone of Scone from the BBC News website which can be seen at The disputed history of the Coronation Stone

Perhaps predictably the matter of the use of the Stone has been taken up by some Scottish Nationalists, as an be seen at King Charles coronation: SNP leadership contender backs calls to stop Stone of Destiny being used in London ceremony

This is an almost inevitable consequence of the return of the Stone to Scotland in 1996. I certainly believe it should return for the Coronation to Westminster but I can also certainly see the case for restoring the Scottish Coronation as a rite. Very different in form from the English ceremony at Westminster it could maybe take place at Scone as the essentially open air ceremony much of it was in the medieval period or in Edinburgh - after 1424 it took place at Scone only twice, in 1488 and 1651. Today there is a replica of the stone outside the post-reformation chapel on the Moot Hill at Scone. There is an account of the place of Scone in Scottish coronations and history from Wikipedia at Scone, Scotland