Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen on 1st June at Westminster Abbey, but the coronation celebrations actually began on 29th May, the day after Archbishop Cranmer had proclaimed the validity of Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII.
The first day of celebrations consisted of a river pageant along the Thames, a procession which took Anne Boleyn from Greenwich Palace to the Tower of London. You can read all about the pageant in my article 29 May 1533 – Anne Boleyn’s Coronation Pageantry Begins and here’s a schedule of the coronation events:
- 29 May 1533 – River pageant escorting Anne Boleyn from Greenwich Palace to the Tower of London.
- 30 May 1533 – Order of the Bath ceremony at the Tower of London. 18 Knights of the Bath were created.
- 31 May 1533 – Coronation procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Hall. Henry VIII dubbed 63 Knights Bachelor.
- 1st June 1533 – Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a coronation banquet at Westminster Hall.
- Further celebrations – Jousts and banqueting.
Claire, I was looking at the Westminster Abbey website. Why do they not reference Anne Boleyn’s coronation among the others? Wasn’t she the last of Henry’s queens to be coroneted?
I think they just list coronations of monarchs, rather than those of consorts, unless they had joint coronations.
That makes sense. I’m still trying to understand the “consort” concept.
Thanks
A consort is the husband/wife of the reigning monarch. Anne Boleyn was a Queen Consort (wife of reigning king) while Mary I and Elizabeth I were Queen Regnants because they ruled in their own right. The list on Westminster Abbey’s site just seems to include coronations of monarchs (regnants).
Wow, seems like yesterday that we were mourning the anniversary of Anne’s execution and now here we are ready to celebrate the anniversary of her coronation!