The official ‘Coronation Roll’ of King Charles III

[Mercian]

Today I saw an article on the BBC News website about the completion of the official ‘Coronation Roll’ of King Charles III.

It is a handwritten scroll that records all the events of His Majesty’s Coronation. These have been prepared for the Coronation of every English monarch since the coronation of Edward II, in 1308. That document spent centuries in the Tower of London, but is now held in our National Archives.

 

The new roll is the first Coronation Roll that has ever been produced on paper, rather than on vellum (I know, I know, ‘there goes the country’, eh?). Apparently, the paper that was used is a watercolour paper called Fabriano Artistico, which is made from cotton, and doesn’t include any animal products.
The ink used on the vellum scrolls was always iron-gall. For this one the decision was taken to use carbon-black ink, rather than iron-gall. No mention of any brand, or wherher it was hand-made e.g. by burning vegetable oil through a lamp wick.

 

The document is apparently 69ft (21m) long, and it comprises ~11,500 beautifully-handwritten words.

The whole Roll was written by one calligrapher - Stephanie von Werthern-Gill.

 

She says that she created it in one long session of 56 days’ work.

She wanted to keep her rhythm going, so she kept her phone switched off, did not take breaks for weekends, and used breathing exercises and classical music to keep herself calm.

Apparently, after eight straight weeks of continuous work, only one error was found in the text she had pains-takingly created - a dot had been missed off a single ‘i’.
Easily-fixed, and not, thankfully, a spelling error.

For anyone who is interested, here is a link to the BBC News article.

 

Also, in another ‘first’ the government has created an online version of the roll:

https://www.coronationroll.gov.uk

 

Sadly though, there don’t appear to be any images of the actual roll, other than of its header ‘page’ 😕

 

Slàinte,
M.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, given that HRM is reported to be a vegetarian, and has always been an animal rights activist, having it on paper instead of vellum is not surprising.

I agree with you that it would have been nice to see the entire Roll (I'm minded of images I've seen of the Roll of Edward IV).  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

Here is a Press Association photo of the header page of the Coronation Roll:

 

 

The work is, as one would expect for a document such as this, astonishingly good.

Not only Stephanie von Werthern-Gill’s calligraphy, but also the ‘illumination’, which was done by the artist Tim Noad.

He also designed the ‘King’s cypher’ for Charles III - the ‘C III R’ monogram that will appear on e.g. all the banknotes and postboxes that are produced here during the King’s reign.

[AceNinja]

it looks amazing that it is hand written!  Wonder what inks were used.  probably none of it is fountain pen friendly.

The golden writings, a little bit reflective, with sheen?  or Shimmer? - can it be done with pelikan edelstein golden beryl?  😁

[mulrich]

A little silly but makes me think we need better traditions in the US. 

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, mulrich said:

A little silly but makes me think we need better traditions in the US. 

Many of the details in most of our ‘national’ ceremonies are inherently silly when looked-at dispassionately.
Some of them are slightly silly, a few are very Silly 😁

 

E.g. when the late Queen’s coffin was lying in Westminster Hall, the uniforms of the various soldiers/officials who took turns to stand guard around it featured hats made of real bear; hats made of real swan; eagles’ feathers; thigh-length leather cavalry boots polished to a mirror sheen, and the officer of the watch signalling the changing of the guard by banging the stone floor with a thick wooden stick. The various watches were armed with mediaeval weapons - long-bows, various swords, halberds - and of course we had the most-expensive hat in the world sitting on its own purple velvet cushion.

At her funeral we saw some soldiers wearing the skins of real leopards. I think that I remember a couple who were wearing the skins of real tigers.
The cavalry horses are colour-matched for each of the particular Horse Guards regiments.

 

At the coronation the King wore robes of mediaeval design, and the ‘blinginess’ of the various heavily-jewelled sceptres, swords, rings, and gloves etc was surpassed only by two of the most-expensive hats in the world.

 

If you ever watch footage of one of our State Opening of Parliament ceremonies, have a look at the breeches, the silk robes, the wigs worn by the Judges, and the robes trimmed with the fur of real mustelids that are worn by the Peers.
Oh, and the fact that the House of Commons closes its doors in the face of the monarch’s approaching representatives, then an official called ‘Black Rod’ bangs on the doors of the House of Commons (with a long black rod), at which point the doors are opened again. Black Rod then proclaims the monarch’s summons of the MPs to the House of Lords, for the ceremonial State Opening, which includes the monarch’s speech that outlines what legislation the government intends to pass during the imminent session.

 

All of these traditions are slightly ridiculous - especially when one considers that this country is nowadays little more than a group of rain-swept small islands sitting in the Atlantic ocean, a little way off the north-west coast off Europe.

 

Still, all the ’bona drag’, the bling, and the mediaeval (or mock-mediaeval) buildings that form the backdrop to it all do at least make for a nicely-formal ceremony.
Or, in layman’s terms, mean that (for formal events) we can/do put on a good show 🙂

[XYZZY]

Thanks @Mercian for the information and the links.  It's a shame that there aren't better pictures of the physical roll, but hopefully it will be digitized at some point.  I read the links that you provided, and one thing that comes to mind is that "roll" has two meanings, both of which apply here:  "roll as in scroll", the physical format of the document.  There's also "roll as in roll-call": apparently they started as a recording of who was there, although it sounds like for C3R they got carried away and listed the flowers and all sorts of things.  I can imagine that in the old days it had the practical value of reminding the king which lords were present to swear fealty to the new king.

 

I think it's interesting that the gorgeously illuminated title page for the Coronation Roll seems to be separate from the roll itself.

 

Where does the roll physically live?  Hopefully a national archive or library that thinks it obvious that it needs to be digitized and made available online.  Not the king's sock drawer 🙂

I found Coronation Roll Protocol which says "The Clerk of the Crown decided that the Roll would be printed on Archival stock of Fabriano Artistico 200 GSM (W318mm x H455mm)."  For some reason I was expecting it to be wider.  And being a stationary geek I've been searching for the paper online, only to learn that it is made in four different finishes and two different colors, and multiple weights (200 being the lightest).

[mulrich]

6 minutes ago, XYZZY said:

I found Coronation Roll Protocol which says "The Clerk of the Crown decided that the Roll would be printed on Archival stock of Fabriano Artistico 200 GSM (W318mm x H455mm)."  For some reason I was expecting it to be wider.  And being a stationary geek I've been searching for the paper online, only to learn that it is made in four different finishes and two different colors, and multiple weights (200 being the lightest).

 

Not sure if I'd want to try the paper or not. At least one picture shows some pretty bad feathering

 

https://www.coronationroll.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TCR_Oath.pdf

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, XYZZY said:

think it's interesting that the gorgeously illuminated title page for the Coronation Roll seems to be separate from the roll itself.

 

I think that the photo was taken before all of the individual sheets were stitched-together by the bookbinders to create ‘the roll’.

 

5 hours ago, XYZZY said:

 

Where does the roll physically live?  Hopefully a national archive or library that thinks it obvious that it needs to be digitized and made available online.  Not the king's sock drawer 🙂

 

😁 Yes. It is indeed going to kept at our National Archives.

And not e.g. in the back of a cupboard in the attic/cellar of some leaky mediaeval castle 😉

 

 

5 hours ago, XYZZY said:

I found Coronation Roll Protocol which says "The Clerk of the Crown decided that the Roll would be printed on Archival stock of Fabriano Artistico 200 GSM (W318mm x H455mm)."  For some reason I was expecting it to be wider.  And being a stationary geek I've been searching for the paper online, only to learn that it is made in four different finishes and two different colors, and multiple weights (200 being the lightest).

I was also looking into that last night - but can it really be the 200gsm paper though? The Fabriano website describes that  version of their ‘artistico’ watercolour paper as having a ‘rough’ finish.

Looking at that photo, I would expect it to be the 300gsm (or heavier) ‘hot rolled’ smooth version of the paper.

🤷‍♂️

[mulrich]

1 hour ago, Mercian said:

All of these traditions are slightly ridiculous - especially when one considers that this country is nowadays little more than a group of rain-swept small islands sitting in the Atlantic ocean, a little way off the north-west coast off Europe.

 

Still, all the ’bona drag’, the bling, and the mediaeval (or mock-mediaeval) buildings that form the backdrop to it all do at least make for a nicely-formal ceremony.
Or, in layman’s terms, mean that (for formal events) we can/do put on a good show 🙂

 

It's funny that these ceremonies are considered so formal. In almost any other context, dressing up with animal prints, wigs, or funny hats would be a joke, or reserved for kids' playrooms. But maybe a few hundred years from now, people will look back on suits and ties and think the same thing. 

 

I do see great value in traditions and only laugh because these are so over the top. I think traditions play an important role in maintaining a culture and identity, and the world is worse off as societies and individuals move away from traditions. 

[Mercian]

5 minutes ago, mulrich said:

 

Not sure if I'd want to try the paper or not. At least one picture shows some pretty bad feathering

 

https://www.coronationroll.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TCR_Oath.pdf

I reckon that the feathering is attributable to the broad nib on HM the K’s pen, and perhaps also to whatever ink he used to sign that oath.
I still don’t know what model of pen was used by HM the K in the coronation ceremony; it wasn’t that silver Montblanc 146 that his sons gave him, and I couldn’t match the image of it from the TV coverage to any pen made by e.g.s Onoto, Conway Stewart, or Parker.

I suspect that it may have been on one-off, produced specially for the coronation by one of the jewellers that holds a Royal Warrant.

[mulrich]

1 minute ago, Mercian said:

I reckon that the feathering is attributable to the broad nib on HM the K’s pen, and perhaps also to whatever ink he used to sign that oath.
I still don’t know what model of pen was used by HM the K in the coronation ceremony; it wasn’t that silver Montblanc 146 that his sons gave him, and I couldn’t match the image of it from the TV coverage to any pen made by e.g.s Onoto, Conway Stewart, or Parker.

I suspect that it may have been on one-off, produced specially for the coronation by one of the jewellers that holds a Royal Warrant.

With all the effort that goes into these ceremonies I'm surprised they didn't test the exact pen, ink, and paper being used to make sure there wouldn't be any imperfections. Good to know the royals are normal people, just like us  

[Mercian]

8 minutes ago, mulrich said:

It's funny that these ceremonies are considered so formal. In almost any other context, dressing up with animal prints, wigs, or funny hats would be a joke, or reserved for kids' playrooms.

In our Crown Courts (the ones that try the most-serious offences), the judges and barristers wear silly old wigs, and formal old gowns. And uniquely-styled white silk neck ties, which leads to barristers being referred to as ‘silks’.

 

The costumes formal wear is there to emphasise the serious and formal nature of the proceedings, and the gravitas that is expected from all participants.

In cases that involve young children (whether as witnesses or as defendants), the drag is dispensed-with, and the lawyers and judge are all in suits.

I suspect that this is so that the dignity of the Court is not damaged by children proclaiming ‘why is that man wearing a dress/silly hat/etc?’ 😁

[XYZZY]

4 hours ago, Mercian said:

Yes. It is indeed going to kept at our National Archives.

And not e.g. in the back of a cupboard in the attic/cellar of some leaky mediaeval castle 

Do you mean that the National Archives aren’t just a different leaky castle😜

Edited May 3, 2024 by XYZZY
Autocorrect 👎

[Mercian]

2 hours ago, XYZZY said:

Do you mean that the National Archives aren’t just a different leaky castle😜

😁

[Mercian]

Just wanted to update this old thread, and also reply to...

 

On 5/3/2024 at 4:56 PM, XYZZY said:

It's a shame that there aren't better pictures of the physical roll, but hopefully it will be digitized at some point. 

 

...because I have now found the fully-digitised version of this artefact, which can be found on the website of our National Archives.

So, if anyone would like to have a look at the handwriting/calligraphy and hand-illumination of any/all of the pages of Charles III's Coronation Roll, they need only click-on this ↓ link...

 

Coronation Roll of Charles III | The National Archives

 

...and then click on the pull-down that says "Preview an image of this record".

 

It took the calligrapher - Stephanie von Werthern-Gill - 56 consecutive days of uninterrupted work (with her phone turned off, classical music playing, and breathing exercises) to maintain herself in the right rhythm and mental state to write out the ~11,500 word document.
I hope that you like her work

Slàinte,
M.

[inkstainedruth]

That's pretty cool.  Of course, I've gotten pretty spoiled by seeing SCA award scrolls as far as the illumination goes in comparison to this -- but the scribe's handwriting is exquisite....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[knarflj]

Wow!  Thanks for the link, @Mercian.  Beautiful work.  I can't quite imagine what it must be like undertaking such a commission.