Visiting the UK: A History-Lover’s Essential Guide

As we prepare for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on 6 May, we can be sure that one place will provide the perfect, dazzling backdrop, just as it has done for countless centuries. I am talking, of course, about Westminster Abbey.

The abbey has a long and noble association with the English monarchy, stretching over 1000 years. While you may be glued to the spectacle of the coronation ceremony unfolding, you might be surprised to learn that the physical spaces that form the backdrop to the event are equally significant.

To appreciate the profound importance of the abbey to the coronation, the place in which, traditionally, a monarch is transmuted from human to divine, I have written this blog to summarise the abbey’s history, how and why it has become so deeply linked with the Crown, as well as pointing out a couple of feature and objects that come together to form the ‘theatre of coronation’….