Chapter XXIX: Appendix: G

THE CORONATION OATH OF KING GEORGE V

The Coronation Oath of King George V. is identical with that of Queen Victoria save in respect of reference to the Church of Ireland:--

THE OATH

¶ His Majesty having already on Monday, the 6th day of February,
1911, in the presence of the two Houses of Parliament, made and
signed the Declaration prescribed, the Archbishop shall, after the
Sermon is ended, go to the King, and standing before him, administer
the Coronation Oath, first asking the King,

Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?

¶ And the King answering,

I am willing,

¶ The Archbishop shall minister these questions; and the King, having
a book in his hands, shall answer each question severally as follows:

_Archbishop._ Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the
people of this United Kingdom of _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_,
and the Dominions thereto belonging, according to the Statutes in
Parliament agreed on, and the respective Laws and Customs of the same?

_King._ I solemnly promise so to do.

_Archbishop._ Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy,
to be executed in all your judgments?

_King._ I will.

_Archbishop._ Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the
Laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Prostestant
Reformed Religion established by law? And will you maintain and
preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of _England_, and
the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law
established in _England_? And will you preserve unto the Bishops
and Clergy of _England_, and to the Churches there committed to
their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall
appertain to them, or any of them?

_King._ All this I promise to do.

[Sidenote: The Bible to be brought;]

¶ Then the King arising out of his chair, supported as before, and
assisted by the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Sword of State being
carried before him, shall go to the Altar, and there being uncovered,
make his solemn Oath in the sight of all the people, to observe the
premisses: laying his right hand upon the Holy Gospel in the great
Bible (which was before carried in the Procession and is now brought
from the Altar by the Archbishop, and tendered to him as he kneels
upon the steps), saying these words:

The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and
keep.

So help me God.

[Sidenote: And a silver Standish.]

¶ Then the King shall kiss the Book, and sign the Oath.

* * * * *

It is, perhaps, interesting to note that neither the Proclamation, Accession, Declaration, or Coronation, of a King in any way improves his legal kingship: he is King from the moment his predecessor’s life is extinct. Hence the legal saying, “The King never dies.” It was anomalous for certain official persons in the City of London to address his Majesty the King as “Prince,” in condoling with him on the death of King Edward VII., immediately after the event. It was likewise technically incorrect to refer to the decease of “the King of Portugal and of the Crown Prince”--at the time of the assassinations. The latter survived his father by a minute or so, and he, therefore, died a King.

* * * * *

The accompanying paragraph from the _Coronation Service_, by the Rev. Joseph H. Pemberton, contains some information:

“As to the authority by which the Coronation Service is from time to
time revised. An order is made by the King in Council directing the
Archbishop of Canterbury to prepare a ‘Form and Order,’ due attention
being given to the wishes of the Sovereign on points of detail. But
the Archbishop has also a duty to perform to the Church, that nothing
shall be omitted which through many generations has been held as
essential to the validity of the Service, a Service by which, through
the administration of the outward and visible sign of Holy Unction,
the inward and spiritual grace of the Holy Spirit is conveyed to the
Sovereign for the office and work of a King or Queen in this realm
under the Catholic Church of Christ. For it cannot be too often
repeated in these days that the Coronation of a King is not a civil
ceremony, but a religious service, for the purpose of the setting
apart of a person for a particular and holy office. The King at his
Accession becomes the people’s accepted Sovereign, at his Coronation
he becomes the Lord’s Anointed, holding his divine office as the
representative, the agent, to the people of this realm, of the King
of kings and Lord of lords.”