Card of the Day: The Coronation Ceremony, Taking the Oath

Here’s another card from Churchman’s Cigarette Company which shows the historical progression of the Royal coronation ceremony. Since these cards were manufactured for the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Mary of Teck, one would expect that these moments would depict scenes from their coronation. But, they don’t. Many of them depict George’s father, King Edward VII.

So, here we see King Edward VII at his 1902 coronation taking the oath. This oath, essentially, asks the Monarch to state that he or she will uphold the laws of Britain. For example, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, the following oath was used:

The Archbishop of Canterbury: "Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon, and of your Possessions and other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?"

The Queen: "I solemnly promise so to do."

The Archbishop of Canterbury: "Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?"

The Queen: "I will."

The Archbishop of Canterbury: "Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolable the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?"

The Queen: "All this I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God.