CORONATION PLANS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22413, 8 May 1936, Page 8

CORONATION PLANS

PREPARING THE ABBEY USE OF FAMOUS OLD CHAIR Plans for accommodating the guests in Westminster Abbey at the coronation of King Edward next year hare already reached an advanced stage. During the preparation the Dean and Chapter of Westminster will hand over the Abbey to the Office of Works. If the precedent set up by previous coronations is followed a large annexe will be built outside the west door of the Abbey and will stretch westward to the base of the Crimean monument. There the procession will be marshalled. The outside walls of the annexe built when King Edward VII. was crowned contained niches in which were statues of all our Kings of that name. This feature may again be included. Inside the Abbey stands will be built on both sides of the nave and in the transepts. There will also be stands on both sides of the sanctuary and above the Chapel of the Kings (the Confessor's Chapel), behind the high altar. In the middle of the transept crossing a platform and stepped Throne will be built, on which will stand a chair of State. The famous 600-year-old Coronation Chair will stand in the sanctuary, and in this the King will be crowned. The seats nearest the Throne will be occupied by the Lords spiritual and temporal and the Officers of Arms. The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Heralds are wholly responsible for the ceremony, and for the seating of the people in the Abbey. Only about 10 per cent of the available seats can be allotted to the general public. The preparations trill necessitate the Abbey being closed for some time, but a daily service will be held in the old Chapel of St. Faith at the south end of the transept.