The Coronation of Charles III and the Meaning Behind His Vestments, 5-Pound Crown, and the "Sovereign Orb"

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Charles III was crowned king of England on May 6, 2023, the first of its kind in 70 years. He wore regalia that look straight out of a portrait of Charlemagne: the St. Edward’s Crown, which wegiths five pounds and has 444 gemstones; the “Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross,” a three-foot gold rod set with the largest stone cut from the largest diamond ever discovered; and The “Sovereign’s Orb,” a huge sphere that represent his command of the known world. We look the incredibly thick symbolism of this event and compare-and-contrast it to Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years ago.

To explain the significance of these ceremonies is Jennifer Robson, author of “Coronation Year,” a historical fiction book set in 1953, when Elizabeth is about to be crowned.

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3101278/advertisement

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History on Plug podcast.
0:08.0	Charles was recently coordinated as the King of England, and if you sell footage of the
0:11.9	ceremony, it looked like something out of the time of Charlemagne.
0:14.9	He had coronation vestments that included a jacket, robes, a sword belt, and gloves,
0:20.0	a five pound crown with 444 stones, a three foot scepter with a stone cut from the largest
0:25.6	diamond ever found, and the Sovereign's Orb, a huge orb, split into three sections to
0:30.4	represent the three known continents in England's medieval period, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
0:35.7	There's a tremendous amount of symbolism to explore in the coronation, since it represents
0:39.9	over a millennia of English history.
0:41.8	In today's episode, we're going to unpack Charles coronation, Queen Elizabeth's as well,
0:46.1	who reign for 70 years, and compare the two ceremonies and see what was similar and
0:50.1	what was different.
0:51.1	We're joined by Jennifer Robinson, author of the book Coronation Year, an historical fiction
0:55.0	book that's set in 1953 that explores the mood of London at a time when the British
0:59.5	Empire is going through tremendous change, transitioning from colonial power to modern
1:03.9	nation state.
1:04.9	Hope you enjoyed this discussion with Jennifer Robinson.
1:07.5	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from
1:12.8	our sponsors.
1:14.4	They were some of the most powerful men who've ever lived.
1:17.2	They waged war, forged peace, and altered the fates of billions of people, and yet they
1:21.9	were just as human, just as flawed as you and me.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Unplugged, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Unplugged and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.