HISTORIC-

 

 

Home 

Accommodation:
 - Stay UK
      - England
      - Scotland
      - Wales
 - Europe &
        Ireland
Our Selections:
      - Castles
      - Cottages
      - Country 
        House Hotels
      - Bed and 
        Breakfast
      - Boats

History UK
   - England
   - Scotland  
   - Wales
   - LivingHistory

Destinations UK

Culture UK

Marketplace UK

Links UK

About Us
Join Us
Contact Us

Site Map
Disclaimer
Privacy Statement

UK.com
THE history and heritage accommodation guide                                                                                 SITE MAP

CULTURE UK

THE QUEENS CHAMPION

Did you know that the Queen still has a champion?

The office of King's Champion or Queen's Champion (as the case may be), was first started in the reign of William the Conqueror.

© S.W. Sir John Dymoke was the first to exercise the office at the Coronation of Richard II, and the Dymoke family of Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire have continued to hold the office up to the present day.

Originally it was the champion's duty to ride, on a white charger, fully clad in armour, into Westminster Hall during the Coronation Ceremony.

There he threw down his gauntlet and challenged any person who dared to deny the sovereign's right to the throne.

At the Coronation of the present Queen, a member of the Dymoke family was present, but he did not throw down a gauntlet or challenge anyone …instead he had the honour of carrying the Royal Standard in the Coronation procession.

The role may have lost some of its original 'pazzaz' but he is still the 'Queen's Champion'.

 

  The Kings Champion at the Coronation of George IV

© E.P.C.

 

Back