Card of the Day: The Champion’s Challenge

Yesterday, we discussed the concept of The King’s (or Queen’s) Champion, also known as The Champion of England, which is one of the more obscure rituals of the British coronation ceremony. Such traditions are depicted in the series of cigarette cards by Churchman’s Cigarette Company which were produced in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Victoria.


Apparently, as part of the coronation ceremony, the King’s Champion rides to protect the King from anyone who might wish to challenge his accession and to fight for the king who is forbidden from battle during the ceremony.

During the procession, ceremonial challenges to the king are staged and the Champion must ritually respond to these false challenges. Originally, the ceremonial challenges were staged thusly:

The Garter King of Arms would read out the challenge during the procession, and the Champion threw down the gauntlet at the entrance to Westminster Hall (the largest original part—dating to 1096--of what is now the Palace of Westminster/seat of Parliament). A challenge is then again issued in the middle of the Hall, and a third is read at the foot of the Throne. Each time the challenge is read, the gauntlet was recovered by the Garter King of Arms. As a reward for responding to these ritual challenges, The Champion was rewarded with a gilt, covered cup (much like the one we saw yesterday), from which the King or Queen has first drunk to the Champion.

Since the coronation of King George IV, the challenge has read as follows:

If any person, of whatever degree soever, high or low, shall deny or gainsay our Sovereign [name] King [Queen] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, son [daughter] and next heir unto our Sovereign Lord the last King [Queen] deceased, to be the right heir to the imperial Crown of this realm of Great Britain and Ireland, or that he [she] ought not to enjoy the same; here is his [her] Champion, who saith that he lieth, and is a false traitor, being ready in person to combat with him, and in this quarrel will adventure his life against him on what day soever he shall be appointed."