Royal Tradition--Coronation

[Avikar]

I'm curious about all things Coronations right now.

Are coronations held only for the king/queen, or do their children go through something similar to be official titled Prince/Princess? If so, when does it happen in their life? What about if the child is Heir Apparent?

If the monarch is married at the time of the coronation, does the spouse have a role? Is he/she crowned alongside him/her as King/Queen/Prince? If so, how?

[observer]

Jul 14, 2013 6:10:02 GMT @Avikar said:

I'm curious about all things Coronations right now.

Are coronations held only for the king/queen, or do their children go through something similar to be official titled Prince/Princess? If so, when does it happen in their life? What about if the child is Heir Apparent?

If the monarch is married at the time of the coronation, does the spouse have a role? Is he/she crowned alongside him/her as King/Queen/Prince? If so, how?

Of course, customs vary depending on the monarchy but not all monarchies have coronations. About the only countries to have coronations (i.e., crownings) nowadays are Great Britain, Thailand, Tonga and Bhutan - the others may have inaugurations rather than coronations. A crown is often present at the inauguration - as it was for King Willem Alexander and King Sihamoni - but the king does not wear it. Indeed, not all monarchies even have crowns - Japan for example and most Muslim monarchies do not.

Coronations are only for the male sovereign and his consort or queens regnant (in Europe or Tonga - though there is the possibility under the Bhutanese and Thai constitutions for a queen regnant such an event is unlikely in the near future)

If there is a queen consort, then in Britain and Tonga she is also crowned, I believe. As Bhutan's king was unmarried when he was crowned I do not know whether it is traditional for Bhutanese queens-consort to be crowned - his predecessor has four wives while the current king has only one. I do not believe Thailand crowns queens consort, however.

The title of prince or princess is either automatically ceded or created by letters patent (or the equivalent) without a special ceremony unless, like the Prince of Wales, there is a separate inauguration when they are installed in one of the titles traditional for the heir.

If there is a queen regnant, her consort generally has no role in the coronation except to swear allegiance (as Prince Philip did) if that is part of the ceremony. The only countries that had kings-consort in modern times were Spain and Portugal but the former doesn't have a coronation and the latter is now a republic.

Non-western and non-Christian monarchies generally do not have coronations but installations or inaugurations or a swearing-in ceremony. I understand. Exceptions include those of the former Shah and Shahbanou of Iran (with the title "Shahbanou" being especially created for the occasion) and the Kings of Nepal, though when King Gyanendra crowned himself his wife had no part in the ceremony if I remember correctly.

There are ceremonies in Swaziland and Lesotho that resemble coronations but these do not involve a crown in the European sense.