Investiture of Alexandra
Date | 1 August 2019 |
---|---|
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 at the same time of Queen Alexandra's accession 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 planned announcement of 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 of the seven Commonwealth realms, namely Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, The Cape, 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. Shortly afterward, the guests in the hall promptly stood up as the Queen and her entourage entered the room.
As the religious leaders promptly took their seats, 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 long.
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 present, I, Alexandra Katharine Charles Nicole Lauren Elizabeth Thomas, by the grace of God and the will of the people, 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. In addition, I also 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.
Upon the conclusion of the installation oath, the royal regalia was 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 and, in turn, officially signed the installation oath where her signature was 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
- Heidi Graf the Queen's first cousin
- Michael Graf the Queen's first cousin
- Catherine, Princess Royal and Dame Jodie Foster the Queen's paternal aunt and her wife
- Georgia May Jagger the Queen's first cousin
- 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, Lady Carter the Queen's half-brother and his wife
- William Carter-Hathaway the Queen's nephew
- Anne Carter-Hathaway the Queen's niece
- Andy 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 Theresa May and Philip May
- Home Secretary Amber Rudd
- Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Susan Williams-Walker
- Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Dominic Grieve and Caroline Hutton
- 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 of Ireland 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 David Cameron and Samantha Cameron
- Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair and Cherie Blair
- Former {{wp|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom}