Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's Historyhood. This is the coronation deep dive that all

you history fans have been yearning for. The superficial title title it will be in the

mainstream media is thin fair for you history fans. And now we're going to get into it.

I'm talking to Anna Whitelock, she's been on the podcast many times before. She's professor

of the history of monarchy at City University of London. She's director of the Centre for

the Study of Modern Monarchy. She is the world's leading expert. And we're going to talk about

it all here. We're going to talk about the acclamation, the anointing, the crowning, the

homage, the processions, the crown jewels. We're going to talk about the anointing spoon.

You're going to love that one. This is a service that dates back well in terms of the use

of oil, the use of crowns and staffs and sectors. Of course, it dates back to ancient

history, the Egyptians, the ancient biblical times in the Middle East. But elements

of the service did seem to coalesce around the rule of King Edgar, who in 973 had the

most extraordinary crowning, one that really emphasised his rule over, well, the whole

of England, possibly the whole of Britain. Edgar was crowned perhaps for the second time

in a great ceremony. Then he went to Chester, where the Chronicle tells us that no fewer

than six kings from Scotland, Cambria, perhaps Wales, rode Edgar on the river D as a symbol

of their submission. Well, very sadly, Charles will not be rode around in Central London

when he is crowned King, but there are other elements of the service that do go all the

way back to the Anglo-Saxons and King Edgar. There are few rituals on earth still being

practiced today that are as ancient as the crowning of a new monarch of Britain and Northern

Ireland. And here's Anna Whitelock, tell us all about it. Enjoy.

Anna Whitelock, thank you very much for coming back on the part.

...