Card of the Day: The Coronation of King George V at Westminster Abbey

The second card in the series of Wills’s Cigarette Cards from the 1935 Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary depicts the moment when the King was crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1911.


The reverse of the card states:

THE CORONATION AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY


George the Fifth was crowned in the Abbey on June 22, 1911, with all the splendid traditional ritual associated with the coronation of British Sovereigns. The picture shows the last act of the investment. In his right hand, the King holds the Sceptre with the Cross (‘the ensign of kingly power and justice’) and in his left hand, the Sceptre with the Dove (‘the rod of equity and mercy’); the Primate [really, that’s what it says] is placing the Crown of St. Edward on the Monarch’s head. The Peers and Kings of Arms then assume their coronets, and there arises a storm of cheering and tumultuous shouts of ‘God Save King George! Long live King George!’