LONDON– It’s a record fit for a king, but it will be available online for all to see.
King Charles III gaped at the 70-foot-long (21.4-meter) handwritten parchment that was presented to him earlier this week at Buckingham Palace, thanking the craftsmen who produced the document that serves as official record of his coronation almost a year ago.
Known as the Coronation Roll, the document is the latest edition of a tradition that dates back to the coronation of Edward II in 1308. But for the first time, a digital version of Charles’ scroll will be available to view online from Friday .
“Thank you very much,” Charles said to heraldic artist Tim Noad and calligrapher Stephanie Gill, who worked on the project for 56 days straight. “I can’t express how grateful I am.”
The scroll, which consists of 56 hand-sewn pages and contains around 11,600 words, is the first to be printed on paper, rather than vellum, reflecting the king’s views on animal welfare. Vellum, made from animal skins, was long prized for manuscripts because of its texture and durability.
The document provides a detailed description of the coronation ceremony on May 6, 2023, from the procession to Westminster Abbey to the anointing and coronation of the king, as well as a list of all those who participated and the official guests.
The online presentation includes a video and photographs of the event, along with interviews with some of the participants, such as Penny Mordaunt, who as Lord President of the Privy Council held the sword of state for much of the two-hour ceremony.
The physical scroll will be stored in the National Archives, along with the 17 historic Coronation Scrolls that have survived.
“At first they outlined who came, what claims they had to make in the coronation service; “This is all part of establishing that relationship between the King and the principal subjects,” said Sean Cunningham, head of medieval records at the National Archives. “So the new reel is kind of a final version of this, in the sense that it takes elements of those previous allegiances and oaths and tributes and incorporates a kind of narrative story of what happened that day.”
When the document was unrolled for the king to inspect on Wednesday, Queen Camilla looked at it and said: “My God, I won’t try to read it without my specifications.”
Charles, noting that the lists above were written in Latin and French, responded, “At least it’s in English.”
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www.coronationroll.gov.uk