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The crowning of a new monarch is a highly symbolic event and the coronation of King Charles III marks a significant moment in history.

Today, the United Kingdom is the only monarchy in Europe to hold coronations, and the ceremony has remained almost unchanged for more than 1,000 years. But no two coronations are the same and some ceremonies have been particularly notable for the unusual, unexpected and ground-breaking events that took place.

����ý Bitesize takes a look at four times that the coronation was a little bit different.

The time that two monarchs were crowned

Following the deposition of James II of England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Mary II was set to inherit the throne.

But after rejecting proposals to become sole ruler to the exclusion of her husband William III, Mary insisted that they rule together as co-monarchs.

On 11 April 1689, William and Mary were crowned as joint reigning monarchs in Westminster Abbey. During the ceremony William used the ancient Coronation Chair, while a second chair was specially made for Mary’s use. The chair has previously been open to view in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries and the Abbey triforium.

The ceremony, which is typically presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, was led by the bishop of London, Henry Compton, who crowned the new queen and king instead.

This was the first ever time that joint reigning monarchs were crowned at a coronation ceremony in England.

The time there almost wasn’t a coronation

When William IV came to power in 1830, he wasn’t keen on the idea of ceremonial affairs and wanted to get rid of his coronation altogether. His predecessor and brother, George IV, had previously coordinated a famously lavish coronation ceremony that cost approximately £250,000 at the time, roughly £27 million in today’s money.

Despite his initial reservations, he was later convinced by traditionalists that the coronation was a constitutional necessity - but he still refused to have an extravagant service. In fact, he managed to spend so little money on the event that it was dubbed ‘the penny coronation’.

The ceremony eventually took place on 8 September 1831, with doors to the Abbey open from 4:00am. While a regally furnished annexe had been built outside the church to marshal the processions, King William decided against the usual coronation banquet as it was too expensive.

His coronation was the second of three coronations to take place in the 19th Century.

The time things didn’t go to plan

Following the death of William IV in 1837, Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne. Her coronation took place the following year, where she was crowned at the age of 19. But her ceremony didn’t exactly go according to plan.

The service was five hours long and no one except the Queen and the Sub-Dean of Westminster knew what to expect from the proceedings. The lack of rehearsal leading up to the ceremony resulted in a series of unexpected events.

This included the coronation ring being put on the wrong finger and Lord Rolle, an elderly peer, falling down the steps while making his homage to the Queen. To top things off a bewildered bishop wrongly announced that the ceremony was over, meaning Victoria had to go back to her seat in order to finish the service properly.

Despite this, Victoria didn’t seem to mind. Historians have noted that in her journal she recorded the events of the day, describing it as "the proudest moment of my life". She went on to reign as queen for 63 years, longer than any king or queen before her.

The time it was first televised

In 1953 and at the age of 26, Princess Elizabeth was crowned Queen Elizabeth II, surrounded by 8,000 coronation guests. She became the fifth queen to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.

While three million people lined the streets of London to watch the procession, the ceremony was the first to be broadcast on the television for the first time, at Elizabeth’s request.

This was ground-breaking at the time, as it allowed people from around the world to watch the royal occasion in a way never before possible. It is estimated that from a UK population of 36 million, over 20 million people watched the ceremony on the television.

On the day the Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip, were driven from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach.

The coronation service was divided into six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture (where the crowning takes place), the enthronement and the homage.

This article was published in April 2023