Monday 18 July 2005

Europe's Crowned... Cushions?

William Shakespeare wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Fast forward two or three centuries and most of the crowned heads of Europe had learned just how true that statement was. More than a handful of them had only the memory of what the weight of a crown felt like, while the unluckiest had lost, well, their heads. A good majority of the remaining few adapted accordingly, eliminating some of the most lavish displays of royal fanfare – including coronations – and leaving modern royal watchers somewhat bereft of a good fix of royal pageantry. 

With the exception of Britain and its well-known and magnificent coronation tradition, the remaining European monarchies have eschewed a formal coronation ceremony for much more informal accession ceremonies, namely the enthronement and/or the even more egalitarian-sounding oath-taking. In most cases, an enthronement mainly involves – you guessed it – the new monarch sitting on the throne. Naturally, there’s a little more to it than that, such as speeches, signatures, the presence of foreign dignitaries, and so on, and the event usually takes place in a location of some importance. Unlike a coronation, however, there is far less pomp and pageantry and – more often than not – there are few, if any, religious undertones. But what really separates an enthronement from a coronation, both semantically and functionally, is that the monarch is neither anointed nor crowned. The crown, scepter, orb, and other symbols of royal authority – if they play a role at all – are most likely resting somewhere nearby on a cushion, perhaps (stereotypically) of crimson and gold.  

Denmark was the first of the European monarchies existing today to dispense with a coronation. Historically, the country has been no stranger to changing its accession ceremonies depending on the politics of the time. According to the official website of Denmark, “After the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the crowning of the king was replaced by anointment, for which the king arrived in the church wearing the crown and was consecrated to his calling by being anointed with oil.” When the country introduced the constitution of 1849 and thus became a constitutional monarchy, anointment was also abandoned. Christian IX, who succeeded to the throne on November 15, 1863, was the first Danish king not to be anointed. When Queen Margrethe II succeeded to the throne on January 14, 1972, her accession ceremony the following day was highly informal and – as others have pointed out – was more of a proclamation than an enthronement. As for the Danish Crown regalia, they have not been used in an accession ceremony – even peripherally – since before 1849. 

The last coronation in Sweden took place in 1873 when Oscar (Oskar) II was crowned. When his eldest son succeeded him as Gustav (Gustaf) V in 1907, he decided against being crowned, and all Swedish monarchs since then have followed suit. Sweden’s most recent accession ceremony, which took place on September 19, 1973, was slightly more formal than Denmark’s nearly two years before. As had been the case in Denmark, the new King Carl XVI Gustav’s grandfather, King Gustav VI, had died only a few days earlier, which is perhaps surprising to those accustomed to the tradition elsewhere of delaying an accession ceremony until after an official mourning period. Nonetheless, the enthronement ceremony took place in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in Stockholm. In addition to the throne, the ceremony did include the presence of some of the trappings one might expect at a coronation, including the royal robes and the Crown regalia. However, in keeping with the less formal enthronement, the robes were not worn, but draped over the throne, and the crown was never placed on the King’s head.

Norway was the most recent remaining European monarchy to replace a coronation ceremony with an enthronement. Actually, the only Norwegian monarch to have a coronation, Haakon VII, was also the first modern ruler of an independent Norway, which had been ruled by the Crown of Denmark beginning in 1387, followed by that of Sweden starting in 1814. Haakon had been elected king on November 18, 1905, and was crowned along with his wife Maud, daughter of Britain’s King Edward VII, on June 22, 1906 in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Haakon’s successor, Olav V, chose not to have a coronation and instead opted for what the official website of the Royal House of Norway refers to as a “Service of Consecration and Blessing,” which took place in Nidaros Cathedral.

Olav’s son, Harald V did the exact same thing on June 23, 1991, just over five months after he succeeded to the throne. This event was clearly the State occasion, but like his Scandinavian counterparts in Denmark and Sweden, Harald did also have an enthronement of sorts just days after his father’s death on January 21, 1991. Despite the presence of the throne, it was an informal occasion and appears to have been conducted as simply a necessary official proclamation. To my knowledge, the Crown regalia were present (although not used) only in the consecration and blessing ceremony.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have never had coronations, but have almost always practiced some sort of accession ceremony. The relatively new monarchy of Belgium, created in 1831, has only ever conducted what its official web site calls a “swearing in.” Beginning this tradition was Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who “took the oath” as Leopold I, the first king of the Belgians, on July 21, 1831 in the Royal Palace of Belgium in Brussels. Today, July 21 is still a Belgian national holiday. The present king, Albert II was sworn in on August 9, 1993, not long after the death of his brother, King Baudouin. The swearing in ceremony was held before both chambers of parliament in the presence of the throne but – at least to my knowledge – without the presence of Crown regalia or even tiaras worn by the ladies.

According to the official site of the Dutch monarchy, “Monarchs are not crowned in the Netherlands but invested as heads of state,” and this is always done as soon as possible and always in Amsterdam “at a public joint session of… Parliament.” The first investiture was held for William (Willem) I in 1815 at the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam, although the modern investiture follows the style of ceremony of William II, which took place in 1840. While the modern ceremony also takes place in Nieuwe Kerk, the investiture is in no way considered religious.

Another interesting nuance in the Netherlands is that despite the fact that the accession ceremony has never been a coronation, two sets of coronation regalia have existed for use in the investiture – one ordered by William I, the other by William II. The set created by William II, which was used at the investiture of Queen Beatrix, is comprised of a sword, an orb, a scepter and crown – all of silver gilt and set with imitation stones and pearls. During the investiture, they all rest nearby, but are never used. The investiture of Queen Beatrix took place on April 30, 1980 – the same day her mother, Queen Juliana, abdicated. Her accession ceremony may not have been a coronation, but the new Queen looked sufficiently grand in an elegant white gown, tiara, and crimson and ermine robe.

In Spain, prior to the unification of the disparate Iberian kingdoms, coronations were used sparingly at best and were more often replaced by something akin to a swearing-in ceremony. The last actual coronation to take place is said to have been that of Isabella I of Castile in December 1474, although since it took place before the unification, it is not considered as a “Spanish” coronation. Following the unification, Spanish monarchs had only simple accession ceremonies and/or an oath-taking at the Cortes (Spanish parliament) up until the Spanish Civil War toppled the monarchy. On the death of the dictator Francisco Franco on November 20, 1975, the monarchy was restored under King Juan Carlos I and just two days later, the new King was enthroned at the Cortes in Madrid. During the ceremony, the new King and his wife, Sofia, presided from their thrones in the presence of the crown and the scepter, and the King took his oath of office. Five days later, a Mass was held in honor of the enthronement at the San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid. Queen Sofia did not wear a tiara on either occasion.  

Perhaps the most informal royal accession ceremonies in Europe take place in two of the smallest remaining monarchies in Europe – the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Principality of Liechtenstein. On October 7, 2000, Luxembourg held a dual ceremony of abdication and enthronement as Grand Duke Jean passed his authority as head of state to his son Crown Prince Henri – now Grand Duke Henri. Naturally, there were several elements to the dual ceremony, but everything led up to the actual enthronement, where Grand Duke Henri sat on the historic throne in the Chamber of Deputies and made and accepted speeches. Although the gilt throne was sufficiently grand, jewel lovers would have been disappointed once again as there was not a crown or tiara in sight.  

Similarly, despite fabulous wealth, the princely family of Liechtenstein was equally bereft of regalia when Prince Hans-Adam II was officially proclaimed sovereign prince of that country on August 15, 1990. The lack of glitter was entirely keeping with the extreme informality of the occasion, however, since the Prince had been the effective ruler in Liechtenstein since August 26, 1984, when his father had transferred to Hans-Adam his powers, but not his title. Jewels may have been left out of the princely proclamation in Liechtenstein, but God wasn’t – the informal ceremony included a Mass.  

Most recently, we can look to Monaco as an example of an enthronement – despite many newspapers loudly, and wrongly, proclaiming Prince Albert II’s “coronation.” It might be debated whether the distinction is one of semantics or function, but it’s probably a little bit of both. One only needs to refer to the verbiage used officially in Monaco to determine the proper form for the accession ceremony, and that is usually “enthronement” or occasionally “investiture.” As for the function of the ceremony, given the fact that no anointing or crowning takes place, the Monegasque royals follow the style of enthronement, not coronation.  

Actually, observers of Albert II’s recent enthronement who were disappointed with the somewhat subdued or relatively minimal nature of the events on July 12 have likely been happy to learn that another investiture ceremony is to be held on November 19. As foreign heads of state are to be invited, it’s likely that this event will be a much more glittering occasion. Interestingly, a statement issued by the Consulate General of Monaco in New York regarding the Prince’s enthronement reads: “To coincide with Monaco’s National Day festivities on November 19, 2005, a number of official Coronation [my underline] ceremonies will be scheduled…” I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

While many of the modern accession ceremonies may seem somewhat lacking in glitter and ceremony, there is occasionally a greater celebration of sorts conducted at a later date, as there will be in Monaco. And if the royals themselves are not throwing a party in honor of an accession, chances are good that others are, and these celebrations have occasionally left a legacy. For instance, in 1902 the brand new Madrid Football Club held the “Copa del Rey” (Cup of the King) in honor of King Alfonso XIII of Spain’s accession. In 1920, the King repaid the kindness when he granted the football club the honor of using Real (royal) before its name, making it Real Madrid.

All in all, it seems these days that most of the crowns in Europe are not on the heads of the esteemed monarchs, but resting comfortably on velvet cushions – usually behind strong bullet-proof glass or the like. But although most of our “crowned heads” aren’t really that after all, at least they have their heads – something that makes us all rest easier.

Until next time, 

- Tori Van Orden Martínez

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Enthronements in Royal Europe 1964-2000 – http://www.angelfire.com/vt/luxenthronement/ – has some very good descriptions and pictures of the various modern European enthronements.