Material relating to the coronation of Queen Victoria

England: Queen Victoria was 18 years old when she was crowned Queen of the British Empire on 20 June 1837 after the death of her uncle, William IV. Her coronation took place a year later on Thursday June 28 1938 at Westminster Abbey.

The five hour ceremony was considered a success, although the ceremony was criticized by many of those present as disordered and not well planned. Among the critics was MP Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), who later became a Prime Minister.

Victoria herself noted in her diary that the Archbishop of Canterbury placed a ring on the wrong finger, causing ‘the greatest difficulty in taking it off again, which I at last succeeded in doing, but not without great pain’. 

Out in the streets, however, there was ceremony and entertainment for the 400,000 people, shown by the processional list of dignitaries and foreign ambassadors shown here. The road route for the coaches and entourage – used for all subsequent coronations – went from the newly-completed Buckingham Palace to the Abbey via Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, St James's Street, Pall Mall, Charing Cross and Whitehall. 

The Globe reported that the weather was fine and the occasion good humored and for the ambassadors of the various countries attending, ‘a running comment on the policies of their respective governments was freely humored by the crowd. 

Victoria’s reign lasted over sixty years, and the term ‘Victorian’ has come to denote the era of social, scientific, technical, artistic and moral change