The coronation of James I and his wife Anne of Denmark as king and queen of England and Ireland was held on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey.Roy Strong, Coronation: A History of Kingship and the British Monarchy (London: Harper Collins, 2005), p. 256: Jemma Field, 'Anna of Denmark', Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer, Elena Woodacre, Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 214. James had reigned as king of Scotland since 1567.Alice Hunt, "The Bright Star of The North: James I and his English Coronation", Medieval English Theatre, 38 (2016), p. 24. Anne was anointed and consecrated with prayers alluding to Esther, the Wise Virgins, and other Biblical heroines.John Wickham Legg, Coronation Order of James I (London, 1902), pp. 45–50 from Lambeth MS 1075b It was the first coronation to be conducted in English instead of Latin.Lucinda Gosling, Royal Coronations (Oxford: Shire, 2013), p. 10. Because of the 1603 London plague, a planned ceremonial Royal Entry to London was deferred until 15 March 1604.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1603–1606 (London, 1900), pp. 139–140 no. 201.

Background and preparations After the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, an event known as the Union of the Crowns. He had been crowned King of Scotland on 29 July 1567 at Stirling.Lucinda H. S. Dean, 'Crowning the Child', Sean McGlynn & Elena Woodacre, The Image and Perception of Monarchy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Newcastle, 2014), pp. 254–280. His wife, Anne of Denmark, had been crowned in Edinburgh on 17 May 1590.Lucinda Dean, 'Enter the Alien: Foreign Consorts and their Royal Entries into Scottish Cities', in J.R. Mulryne, Maria Ines Aliverti, Anna Maria Testaverde, Ceremonial Entries in Early Modern Europe: The Iconography of Power (Abingdon, 2015), pp. 269–275.

Journeys to London

James rode to England visiting country houses along the way and knighting many of his new subjects. James met the statesman Robert Cecil at York on 19 April, and it was decided he would be crowned with Anne on 25 July.Stephen Alford, All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil (Allen Lane, 2024), p. 288. James arrived at Theobalds on 3 May 1603, and came to London on 7 May. Richard Martin, a lawyer, gave a speech on behalf of the Mayor and Aldermen, praising James as the "Bright star of the North".Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stewart: the regime change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford, 2024), p. 117.

James stayed for three days at the Charterhouse, then moved first to the Tower of London, and on 13 May to Greenwich Palace. On 23 May the court moved again, to Whitehall Palace.Neil Cuddy, Revival of the Entourage, The English Court from the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (London, 1987), p. 174: John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 1 (London, 1828), pp. 113–157 His wife, Anne of Denmark, followed in June, after suffering a miscarriage at Stirling Castle. In London, there were rumours that the royal couple's son Charles had died. Queen Anne travelled a similar route through England with her children Henry and with Elizabeth, who was left with her new guardians at Coombe Abbey. Charles remained at Dunfermline Palace.Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2021), pp. 26–27, 417 fn. 54: Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows: The Life of Lucy, Countess, Countess of Bedford (London: Hambledon, 2007), p. 49: Alexandre Teulet, Relations Politiques, 4, p. 316 James met Anne at Easton Neston the house of George Fermor in Northamptonshire on 27 June,Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stewart: the regime change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford, 2024), p. 122. and they travelled to Windsor Castle, visiting courtiers' houses along the way.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 1 (London, 1828), pp. 189–195.

Plague Plans for the coronation were disrupted by an outbreak of plague. The number of guests and officials allowed within the Abbey was strictly limited.Clara Steeholm & Hardy Steeholm, James I of England: The Wisest Fool in Christendom (London, 1938), pp. 237, 241. The subdued nature of this coronation was noted, and three years later a ceremony at Windsor Castle to invest the Earl of Salisbury and Viscount Bindon as Knights of the Garter was said to have been much more magnificent.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1603–1606 (London, 1900), p. 354 no. 527. More recently, historians have reassessed the importance of the event and the priorities of King James.Sybil M. Jack, 'A Pattern for a King's Inauguration': The Coronation of James I in England', Parergon, 21:2 (July 2004), p. 83.

Commission for the coronation A commission was established to adjudicate any competing claims to hereditary or feudal rights to offices and services at the ceremony.Thomas Rymer, Foedera, vol. 16 (London, 1727), p. 524. The commissioners declared on 18 July that the traditional procession through the city would be severely curtailed.Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1603-1610, p. 22 There would be no customary feast,Harold Spencer Scott, Journal of Sir Roger Wilbraham (London, 1902), p. 61. and the James confirmed from Windsor on 6 June that the Royal Entry was deferred to the next year.Thomas Rymer, Foedera, 16 (London, 1715), 521. The date of the ceremony was kept because it was auspicious as the feast day of Saint James, the king's name saint,Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stuart: The Regime Change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford, 2024), p. 113.Sarah Gristwood, Arbella: England's Lost Queen (London, 2003), p. 263: Thomas Rymer, Foedera, vol. 16 (London, 1727), p. 521: Edmund Howes, Annales, or a Generall Chronicle (London, 1631), p. 827 and, according to the Venetian diplomat Scaramelli, political events including the main and bye plots made James anxious to take the coronation oaths and so "settle his affairs".Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1603–1606 (London, 1900), p. 74 no. 105.

Edward Kelk and Francis Raworth followed the work of the Commission for the town of Sandwich and the Cinque Ports. Kelk wrote on 11 July that James would not process through the city. He thought men or Barons from the Cinque Ports would carry the king's canopy in the Abbey, and they heard that Anne of Denmark's coronation would be deferred till the winter. On 15 July, it was confirmed that both James and Anne would crowned and the Barons of the Cinque Ports would carry two canopies. Kelk looked into precedents for the robes required, and Raworth noted that scarlet cloth was £3-10s and red satin 15 shillings or more per yard. The 16 Barons were to wear crimson velvet shoes and broad black velvet hats.HMC 13th Report Appendix 4: Rye (London, 1892), pp. 128–129, 359–360.

The merchant and mercer Baptist Hicks was asked to supply crimson velvet, damask and satin, but was left with 1,400 yards of unused fabric.M. S. Giuseppi, Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, 18 (London, 1940), 408-9. Sir George Carew bought 156 gilt halberds for the royal guard at the coronation and "tilt staves" and other equipment for jousting or "running at the ring" at a coronation tournament.Frederick Devon, Issues of the Exchequer (London, 1836), p. 3: HMC Report on the Laing Munuscripts in the University of Edinburgh, vol. 1 (London, 1914), p. 93 A new imperial crown was made.Clara Steeholm & Hardy Steeholm, James I of England: The Wisest Fool in Christendom (London, 1938), p. 252. The goldsmiths William Herrick and John Spilman provided a cloth-of-estate for the Abbey embroidered with pearls and imitation counterfeit gemstones.Sophie Pitman, "Imitation in early modern artisan fashion", Paula Hohti, Refashioning the Renaissance: Everday day dress in Europe, 1500–1650 (Manchester, 2025), p. 91. They made a jewelled circlet for Anne of Denmark, and refashioned the armill, ampulla, and sceptre for the ceremony.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 4 (London, 1828), p. 1058: HMC Laing Manuscripts in the University of Edinburgh, vol. 1 (London, 1914), pp. 93–97 Some of the gems for the circlet were taken from the jewels of Elizabeth I.Sybil M. Jack, 'A Pattern for a King's Inauguration': The Coronation of James I in England, Parergon, 21:2 (July 2004), p. 83. Herrick and Spilman also made a hat badge of precious stones in the shape of an initial "I" for James, using a diamond taken from an old jewel in Anne's inventory.Diana Scarisbrick, 'Anne of Denmark's Jewellery Inventory', Archaeologia, vol. CIX (1991), p. 222: HMC Calendar of the Laing Manuscripts at the University of Edinburgh, 1 (London, 1914), p. 96: Antient Kalendars and Inventories, 2, pp. 305 no. 53, 308 no. 20Anna Groundwater, "Tracing royal Stewart jewels in the archives", Decoding the Jewels: Renaissance Jewellery in Scotland (Sidestone Press: NMS, 2024), p. 171.

The commission made its decisions on rights and honours on 24 July. It refrained from deciding on some claims, including that of Sir Oliver Leigh, who as lord of the manor of Addington in Surrey, alleged to be entitled to provide the royals with a mess or dish of "herout or pigernout" made in the royal kitchen. His ancestor, Nicholas Leigh, had claimed the same right to "make a mess of pottage in a pot of clay" or "degeront" at the coronations of Edward VI in 1547 and Mary I in 1553.Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1603–1610, p. 24: C. S. Knighton, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Edward VI (London, 1992), p. 2 no. 7: British Library, Add MS 34320, f.98r

The chancellor of the exchequer and master of the wardrobe, John Fortescue of Salden, was in charge of £5000 spent on the coronation, and £3000 spent on the funeral of Elizabeth I.Frederick Devon, Issues of the Exchequer (London, 1836), pp. 3, 7. For his security, James requested 100 soldiers from the trained bands of Surrey.Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, Addenda 1580–1625 (London, 1872). 500 soldiers were hired at eight pence per day to guard against "any tumults and disorder" in Westminster and the Strand.Frederick Devon, Issues of the Exchequer (London, 1836), pp. 6–7. Measures were taken to keep spectators away from royal family for fear of plague, and it was forbidden to sight-see from boats on the river.Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows: The Life of Lucy, Countess, Countess of Bedford (London: Hambledon, 2007), p. 51.

Order of service

The English Reformation had made the form of the coronation service problematic, as previous coronations included Roman Catholic rites. On 15 May 1603, the Venetian ambassador reported that the College of Heralds was scouring the archives for precedents.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1603–1606 (London, 1900), pp. 27 no. 40, 43–44 no. 69. It was decided to make a new translation of the Liber Regalis, the 14th-century coronation order, ignoring Tudor additions and removing any elements that were contrary to Anglican doctrine. The driving force behind this decision may have been the antiquary William Camden. Camden and other scholars argued that the new Church of England was the inheritor of an ancient tradition of English Christian worship. The final decision on the order of service was made by John Whitgift, the archbishop of Canterbury.Roy Strong, Coronation (London, 2005), pp. 243–245. The majority of the liturgy was translated into English, but some elements, such as the Litany, were retained in the original Latin. The coronation oath was to be made in Latin, English and French, because of the claim to the French throne.Matthias Range, Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 34.

The coronation