Those of us who visit stately homes are fairly used to seeing the appropriate family Coronation robes and coronets on display in one or other of the rooms. Similarly cathedrals and dioceses tend to display vestments with royal connections - I recall seeing the very splendid Coronation Cope of the Bishops of Bath and Wells on display in the Palace in Wells on a visit there.
The fact of an impending Coronation has resulted in rather more ambitious displays this year.
Lambeth Palace Library has put together an exhibition spanning more than nine centuries from King Henry I’s Coronation Charter of 1100 right through to the processional choreography notes for the ceremony in 1953. There is an article about it from the Evening Standard at
York Minster, which will be the setting for this year’s Royal Maundy Service, has an exhibition Majesty: Monarchy and York Minster. The website for it is at York Minster There are reports about it from the BBC News website at King Charles III Coronation: York Minster's royal treasures to go on display, from the York Free Press at King Charles III Coronation: York Minster opens historic royal display, and from the Association of English Cathedrals at York Minster opens Historic Collections for the Coronation - The Association of English Cathedrals
Blenheim Palace, where the Marlborough Coronation and Parliamentary robes were usually on display in the Library at the end of the tour of the main rooms, has mounted this year a special exhibition Royal Connections Crowns and Coronets, including the frame of a crown that belonged to Queen Anne. There is a report about it from the Daily Telegraph at Thrilling proof of a royal friendship that has endured for centuries
At Belvoir Castle the Rutland Ducal Coronation robes and coronets are on show as well as three pages’s costumes worn at the 1937 Coronation by the late Duke and his brothers. There is a report about that from the BBC News website at Belvoir Castle: Robes worn at George VI coronation go on display, one from Grantham Matters at Ceremonial Robes made for the Dukes of Rutland for Coronation of George V1 in 1937 to be shown at Belvoir Castle and another in a very similar vein from the Melton Times at 'It's a wonderful opportunity to share these beautifully made robes in this special Coronation year'
Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, the ancestral home of the sometime Dukes and Earls of Ancaster and now of their descendant the 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England, and who was one of the late Queen’s Maids of Honour trainbearers in 1953, has especially strong links to the ceremonies of state. Not only is the house holding an exhibition entitled Crown and Country: Grimsthorpe and Coronations of robes and coronets but the remarkable and impressive collection of royal perquisites acquired by past Lords Great Chamberlain in right of their position is also being displayed. The website for the exhibition is at Grimsthorpe Castle, Park and Gardens | Coronation Exhibition 2023
In addition there is also a one day symposium at Grimsthorpe about the exhibition and the role of the Lord Great Chamberlain on June 24th. Details about that can be found at Grimsthorpe Castle, Park and Gardens | Crown and Country: Grimsthorpe and Coronations
Grimsthorpe is not as well known as Blenheim or Belvoir but it is a fascinating building from the sixteenth century with an early eighteenth century grand entrance front by Vanbrugh. I have a family connection with the estate in that my great grandfather was head bricklayer on the estate in the 1890s, so I have a sense of identification with it.
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