Investiture of Alexandra
![]() The Parliament Complex, where the investiture ceremony was held | |
Date | 1 August 2019 |
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Location | London, United Kingdom |
Participants | Queen Alexandra Great Officers of State British Armed Forces Parliament of the United Kingdom |
The investiture of Alexandra as Queen of the British took place on 1 August 2019 at the Parliament Complex in London, United Kingdom. The first of its kind in British history, it is the first civil ceremony to involve a British monarch following the disestablishment of the Church of England via the passing of the Church of England Act 1998. The ceremony took place roughly two years following Alexandra's ascension to the throne in October 2017 in light of the abdication of her father King Thomas.
Background
Prior to the ceremony, the last coronation for a British monarch to have taken place was in March 1997 for King Thomas which, like its predecessors, was inherently religious and Anglican in nature. However, the passing of the Church of England Act 1998, which formally disestablished the Church of England as a state church, meant that religious coronations are no longer considered feasible or appropriate in the near future.
Beginning in 1999, under the code-name "Operation Evolution", various individuals including government ministers, constitutional lawyers, religious leaders, and representatives of civil service met thrice a year to continuously discuss plans for a civil investiture concerning the next British monarch. Eventually, the abdication of King Thomas in October 2017 made plans for a civil investiture ever more likely as discussions continued until the final date of 1 August 2019 when the ceremony was scheduled to take place.
Event
Procession to Parliament Complex
Beginning at 10:00 am, the ceremony kicked off with a large procession carrying Queen Alexandra from her royal residence of Buckingham Palace to the Parliament Complex, the legislative seat of the United Kingdom. Made up entirely of members of the British Armed Forces, in a break from tradition, the Queen was driven in a white Rolls-Royce Ghost rather than in the usual Gold State Coach which was previously used by British monarchs since King William IV. The official route saw the procession begin by going along The Mall from Buckingham Palace before turning right onto Whitehall and then rightwards around Parliament Square, passing significant buildings such as Westminster Abbey and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom as they did, while a final rightward turn around Broad Sanctuary Green eventually seeing the procession arrive at their intended destination of the Parliament Complex.
Inauguration
Upon arriving at the Parliament Complex, Queen Alexandra was led into the building by a smaller procession made up of leaders of the religious faiths of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, each of whom carried their respective religious texts in hand. Behind them, a separate procession duly followed and was made up of the governor generals and prime ministers of the eight Commonwealth realms, namely Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, and the West Indies whom each carried the flags of their respective countries. At 10:20 am, Alexandra officially arrived at the doorsteps of the Investiture Hall where, as a sign of their arrival, the doors were knocked on twice by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Ephraim Mirvis. Then, as the doors were opened, the present guests unanimously proclaimed "The Queen has arrived", once again signaling her arrival.
As the religious leaders promptly took their positions on the side of the aisle, Alexandra, donning a white evening gown underneath the Imperial Mantle, walked down the aisle until she was then received by the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Baroness Hale of Richmond. After a brief formal exchange of pleasantries, Alexandra proceeded to take a few steps back before coming to rest on a chair where she was delivered by hand a well-preserved copy of the Magna Carta by the Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Lord Reed of Allermuir, a gesture intended to emphasise the United Kingdom's long constitutional history that began with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 by King John of the House of Plantagenet. Following this, The Baroness Hale of Richmond subsequently delivered a speech on the evolution of the monarchy from an absolute role to a ceremonial one and the corresponding development of representative democracy in the nation which lasted for roughly fifteen minutes.
Following the end of the speech, Alexandra swiftly handed the Magna Carta copy back before once again coming face-to-face with The Baroness Hale of Richmond who then swiftly placed the installation oath on a golden podium. With one hand raised, Alexandra proceeded to read the installation oath which went as follows:
On this fateful day and in front of the many esteemed guests here, I, Alexandra Katharine Charles Nicole Lauren Elizabeth Thomas, duly accept my role as Queen of the British and of the People of other Commonwealth realms in which, from the beginning until the end of my service as the ceremonial head of the nation, I hereby swear to faithfully uphold the principles of the rule of law, representative democracy, the separation of powers, as well as ethnic, linguistic, racial, and religious inclusiveness of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland. It is also on this occasion that I duly acknowledge the continued existence of my role as Queen as based upon the support of the government and the people, from whom I humbly ask for their unwavering loyalty and support in exchange for my faithful devotion to my role as the head of state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland, a glorious nation that could never fully stand on its own without either the Crown or the people.
Upon concluding the installation oath, during which she also swore to "uphold the cultural and religious diversity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland" in response to a unanimous question from the religious leaders present, the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom were swiftly delivered into the Investiture Hall and presented in front of the Queen who proceeded to gently place St Edward's Crown onto her own head as she then officially signed the installation oath in which her signature was subsequently followed by those of the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Lord Chancellor. Following this, while holding the sword of state in one hand and a sceptre in the other, Alexandra turned to face the crowd behind her and subsequently stood still for a few minutes long as the United Kingdom's national anthem "Onwards, Britannia!" was played after which she placed both the sword and the sceptre back while otherwise retaining St Edward's Crown on her head as she slowly exited the Investiture Hall afterward, followed by the previous procession that had led her inside.
Procession to Buckingham Palace
Upon the ceremony's conclusion, Queen Alexandra was driven once again in the white Rolls-Royce Ghost surrounded by a large procession that followed a similar route as the first but in reverse, passing by the nearby One Great George Street building and going around St James's Park before arriving back at Buckingham Palace via The Mall at approximately 11:05 am.
At 11:20 am, Alexandra subsequently stood on the rear balcony of Buckingham Palace where she received a royal salute and three cheers from members of the British Armed Forces gathered in Buckingham Palace Garden. Following this, in the presence of her family members, Alexandra then stood on the front balcony to review a royal flypast by the Royal Air Force whose Red Arrows aerobatic team notably took part in the occasion.
Guests
Much like previous coronations, the event similarly saw the attendance of various guests from both inside the United Kingdom and abroad. Among the guests included:
Domestic Guests
British royal family
- King Emeritus Thomas and Queen Emeritus Christy the Queen's father and mother
- Prince Richard the Queen's brother
- Princess Nicole the Queen's sister
- Princess Elle the Queen's sister
- Princess Vivian the Queen's sister
- Maria Elizabeth Turlington the Queen's maternal grandmother
- Kelly Turlington the Queen's maternal aunt
- Erin Turlington the Queen's maternal aunt
- Prince Nelson and Steffi Graf the Queen's paternal uncle and his wife
- Elisabeth Graf the Queen's first cousin
- Carl Graf the Queen's first cousin
- Catherine, Princess Royal and Dame Jodie Foster the Queen's paternal aunt and her wife
- The Duke and Duchess of Westminster the Queen's first cousin and her husband
- Corey Rodman the Queen's first cousin
- Charles Foster the Queen's step-cousin
- Kit Foster the Queen's step-cousin
- Sir William Carter and Anne Hathaway the Queen's half-brother and his wife
- William Carter-Hathaway the Queen's nephew
- Anne Carter-Hathaway the Queen's niece
- Michelle Carter-Hathaway the Queen's niece
- John Carter-Hathaway the Queen's nephew
- Dame Jacqueline Carter and Henry Cavill the Queen's half-sister and her husband
- Thomas Cavill the Queen's nephew
- Elizabeth Cavill the Queen's niece
- Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Sir Desmond de Silva the Queen's first cousin once removed and her husband
- Victoria Margarita the Queen's second cousin
- Bernhard, Margrave of Baden and Stephanie Kaul the Queen's first cousin once removed and his wife
- Leopold Bernhard the Queen's second cousin
- Friedrich Bernhard the Queen's second cousin
- Karl-Wilhelm Bernhard the Queen's second cousin
Non-royals
- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron and Samantha Cameron
- Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Chancellor of the Exchequer David Gauke and Rachel Gauke
- Home Secretary Victoria Atkins and Paul Kenward
- Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Susan Williams-Walker
- Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Amber Rudd
- Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow and Sally Bercow
- Lord Speaker of the House of Lords The Lord Fowler and Fiona Poole
- Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Matthew Barrett
- First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell
- First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford and Clare Buckle
- Minister-President of Hanover Mark Heffelfinger and Sara Heffelfinger
- Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair and Cherie Blair
- Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown and Sarah Jane Brown
- Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major and Norma Major
Celebrities
- Christian Bale and Sibi Blazic
- Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz
- Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith
- Hugh Grant and Anna Eberstein
- Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre
- Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher
- Gary Oldman and Gisele Schmidt
- Ian Wright and Nancy Hallam
- Gordon Ramsay and Tana Ramsay
- Sir Anthony Hopkins and Stella Arroyave
- Sir Christopher Nolan and Dame Emma Thomas
- Sir Elton John and David Furnish
- Sir Wayne Rooney and Coleen Rooney
- Sir Frank Lampard and Christine Lampard
- Sir Steven Gerrard and Alex Curran
- Sir David Beckham and Victoria Beckham
- Sir Rio Ferdinand and Emma Bunton
- Sir Michael Jagger and Melanie Hamrick
- Sir Bobby Charlton and Norma Ball
- Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell
- Sir Alex Ferguson and Cathy Ferguson
- Sir Sean Connery and Micheline Roquebrune
- Sir Mo Farah and Tania Nell
- Sir Andy Murray and Kim Sears
- Sir Geoff Hurst and Judith Hurst
- Sir Michael Gambon and Anne Miller
- Sir Brian May and Anita Dobson
- Sir Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster
- Sir David Attenborough
- Sir Ian McKellen
- Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy
- Rowan Atkinson and Louise Ford
- Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
- Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn
- Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter
- Richard Curtis and Emma Freud
- John Oliver and Kate Norley
- Eric Clapton and Melia McEnery
- James Corden and Julia Carey
- Sting and Trudie Styler
- Liam Neeson
- Seal
- Dame Emma Thompson and Greg Wise
- Dame Judi Dench and David Mills
- Dame Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford
- Keira Knightley and James Righton
- Thandiwe Newton and Ol Parker
- Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman
- Kate Winslet and Stephen Tredre
- Emily Blunt and John Krasinski
- Felicity Blunt and Stanley Tucci
- Helena Bonham Carter and Rye Holmboe
- Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke
- Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas
- Tilda Swinton and Sandro Kopp
- Jamie Lee Curtis and The Lord Haden-Guest
- Cara Delevingne and Ashley Benson
- Poppy Delevingne and James Cook
- Naomi Campbell and Flavio Briatore
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Aga Khan IV
- Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling
- Mel B and Rory McPhee
- Melanie C and Joe Marshall
- Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner
- Kelly Smith and DeAnna Dobosz
- Adele and Simon Konecki
- Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
- Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup
- Emma Watson
- Dua Lipa
- Jamelia
- Cheryl
- Jessie J
- Dame Maggie Smith
- Alex Scott
Foreign Guests
Non-royalty
President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron
President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and Eliza Reid
President Sauli Niinistö and Jenni Haukio
President Alexander Van der Bellen and Doris Schmidauer
President Ueli Maurer and Anne-Claude Peter
President Andrzej Duda and Agata Kornhauser-Duda
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Svetlana Medvedeva
Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Trudeau
Prime Minister Arcus Pantofflett and Monica Pantofflett
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Tshepo Motsepe
President Mokgweetsi Masisi and Neo Masisi
President Danny Faure and Shermin Rudie Faure
President Reuven Rivlin
President Mahmoud Abbas and Amina Abbas
President Ram Nath Kovind and Savita Kovind
President Arif Alvi and Samina Alvi
Premier Li Keqiang and Cheng Hong
President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Chen Chien-jen
President Halimah Yacob and Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Emine Erdoğan
President Matar Matar and Amal Habib
President Joko Widodo and Iriana
President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-sook
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Jenny Morrison
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford
Royalty
The Prince Imperial of Brazil
The Emperor and Empress of Mexico
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway
The Crown Princess of Sweden and The Duke of Västergötland
The King and Queen of Germany
The King and Queen of Spain
The King and Queen of the Netherlands
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
The King and Queen of Portugal
The Prince and Princess of Monaco
The Hereditary Prince and Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein
The King and Queen of Italy
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Greece
The Queen and Prince Consort of Romania
The King and Queen of Hungary
The Prince and Princess of Preslav
The King and Queen of Libya
The King of Morocco
The King and Queen of Jordan
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Kuwait
The Emir and Consort of Qatar
The Emir and Consort of Dubai
The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom
The King and Queen of Malaysia
The Princess Royal of Thailand
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Brunei
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Iran
The Empress and Prince Consort of Japan
The King and Queen of Bhutan
The King of Cambodia
The King and Queen of Tonga
Celebrities
- Linda Evangelista and Kyle MacLachlan
- Shania Twain and Frédéric Thiébaud
- Celine Dion
- Katheryn Winnick
- Christie Brinkley
- Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber
- Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg
- John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver
- Bobby Shriver and Princess Caroline of Monaco
- Katherine Schwarzenegger and Chris Pratt
- Serena Williams and Venus Williams
- Tiger Woods and Erica Herman
- Michael Phelps and Nicole Johnson
- Amber Valletta and Shalom Harlow
- Angelina Jolie and Jenny Shimizu
- Miranda Kerr and Stella Maxwell
- Meg Ryan and John Mellencamp
- Isabella DiMaggio and Orlando Bloom
- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen
- Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
- Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth
- Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser
- Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin
- Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber
- Ireland Baldwin and Madonna
- Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra
- Alex Morgan and Servando Carrasco
- Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird
- Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor
- Denzel Washington and Pauletta Pearson
- Eddie Murphy and Tracy Edmonds
- Wesley Snipes and Nakyung Park
- Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
- Lynda Carter and Robert A. Altman
- Jack Black and Tanya Haden
- Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder
- Emma Roberts and Garrett Hedlund
- Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden
- Lucy Liu
- Drew Barrymore
- Taylor Swift
- Halle Berry
- George Clooney and Amal Clooney
- Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel
- Billy Joel and Alexis Roderick
- Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied
- Nicole Scherzinger and Thom Evans
- Sandra Bullock and Bryan Randall
- Paula Abdul
- Gillian Anderson and Peter Morgan
- Adriana Lima and Lenny Kravitz
- Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur
- Caitríona Balfe and Anthony McGill
- Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden
- Shakira and Gerard Piqué
- Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady
- Benicio del Toro and Kimberly Stewart
- Antonio Banderas and Nicole Kimpel
- Rafael Nadal and Maria Pascual
- Léa Seydoux and André Meyer
- Mélanie Laurent
- Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet
- Gérald Marie and Laetitia Casta
- Zinedine Zidane and Véronique Fernandez
- Thierry Henry and Andrea Rajačić
- Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander
- Christoph Waltz and Judith Holste
- Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz
- Claudia Schiffer and Matthew Vaughn
- Rebecca Ferguson and Rory St. Clair Gainer
- Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton
- Maria Sharapova and Alexander Gilkes
- Olga Kurylenko
- Eva Herzigová and Gregorio Marsiaj
- Malala Yousafzai
- Bar Refaeli and Bernie Ecclestone
- Gal Gadot and Jaron Varsano
- Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan
- Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan
- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan
- Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh
- Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
- A. R. Rahman and Saira Banu
- Ken Watanabe
- Masashi Kishimoto
- Jackie Chan and Joan Lin
- Ming Xi and Mario Ho
- Dato' Sri Hajah Siti Nurhaliza and Dato' Sri Haji Khalid Mohamad Jiwa
- Dato' Sri Michelle Yeoh and Jean Todt
- Ronny Chieng and Hannah Pham
- Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
- Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley
- Elle Macpherson and Donald Soffer
- Kylie Minogue
Reception
Owing to years of advanced planning beforehand, the event's execution was consequently met with much praise for its precision and smoothness with little to no fault in the process. Meanwhile, its mix of elements of a traditional coronation and those of a more modern ceremony was also widely received with the BBC particularly noting the "seamless blend of the past and the present that resulted in a unique occasion of its own and heavily distinguished from the rest".
Despite featuring a wide array of guests ranging from kings and queens to presidents and prime ministers in addition to both local and foreign celebrities, the event's choice of guests was not without controversy. In this, the presidents of the United States and Russia were all represented by their respective deputies after the organising committee deemed their presence to be too controversial for the event. Likewise, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, despite effectively representing his elderly father abroad, was also not invited to the event amidst fears of protests over the latter's role in the assassination of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi around a year prior in October 2018. Instead, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom, was chosen to represent his country at the event owing to his lack of personal controversies and him being less well-known to the public. Meanwhile, a minor controversy arose when it was announced that both China's Premier Li Keqiang and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen were invited to the event despite longstanding geopolitical tensions between the two nations. To that end, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond later revealed that the Chinese government once attempted to pressure the organising committee into barring the Taiwanese leadership from the event under the threat of withdrawing their participation although such a threat never ultimately materialised while the committee itself persisted in including the Taiwanese leadership despite the constant Chinese pressure. Likewise, despite similar geopolitical tensions, the leaders of both Israel and Palestine were also invited, namely presidents Reuven Rivlin and Mahmoud Abbas. However, no government officials from both North Korea and Iran were ever invited to the event although, in the latter's case, they were "unofficially" represented by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Iran, members of the exiled Pahlavi dynasty that was overthrown in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution.
Given its distinctively secular nature, unlike past British coronations which are otherwise strictly Anglican ceremonies, in a historic moment, an invitation was extended to the leadership of the Vatican City, namely the current Pope Francis. In this, despite later expressing the Vatican City's "gracious acceptance" of the invitation, owing to his advanced age, the Pope revealed that he would not be attending the event directly and instead sent the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to represent the Vatican City at the event.