Coronation of Queen Victoria

Common card · No. 494032

The coronation of Victoria as queen of the United Kingdom took place on Thursday, 28 June 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne of the United Kingdom at the age of 18. The ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey after a public procession through the streets from Buckingham Palace, to which the Queen returned later as part of a second procession. Planning for the coronation, led by the prime minister, Lord Melbourne, began at Cabinet level in March 1838. In the face of various objections from numerous parties, the Cabinet announced on Saturday, 7 April, that the coronation would be at the end of the parliamentary session in June. It was budgeted at £70,000 (equivalent to £6,700,000 in 2025), which was more than double the cost of the "cut-price" 1831 coronation, but considerably less than the £240,000 (equivalent to £22,800,000 in 2025) spent when George IV was crowned in July 1821. A key element of the plan was presentation of the event to a wider public. By 1838, the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image George Hayter, Public domain