However, a coronation does have three key purposes. First and foremost, it has a religious significance, with the monarch making promises to God as part of a Christian ceremony. Secondly, while the monarch has acquired the status and authority at their accession, it is at the coronation that the monarch makes promises to the people that they serve. Finally, it is a moment for public celebration and affirmation in a way that would be inappropriate in the days and weeks following the accession. In order for the Royal Family and the nation to grieve the loss of the monarch, there is always a significant gap between accession and coronation.
The first documented coronation at Westminster was that of William the Conqueror on 25th December 1066. Before this year there had been no fixed location for the ceremony. Edward the Confessor does not seem to have deliberately planned his new Abbey as a coronation church. His immediate successor, Harold Godwinson, is likely to have been crowned here following the Confessor’s death but there is no surviving contemporary evidence to confirm this ceremony. William probably chose the Abbey for his coronation to reinforce his claim to be a legitimate successor of Edward.
