Regalia in the context of Munich

A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special vows by the new monarch, the investing and presentation of regalia to them, and acts of homage by the new monarch's subjects. In certain Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, coronation is a religious rite. As such, Western-style coronations have often included anointing the monarch with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called; the anointing ritual's religious significance follows examples found in the Bible. The monarch's consort may also be crowned, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event.

Once a vital ritual, coronations have changed over time for a variety of socio-political and religious reasons; most modern monarchies have dispensed with them altogether, preferring simpler ceremonies to mark a monarch's accession. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, Thailand, Malaysia (federal and state), and Eswatini. The most recent coronation in the world was that of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in London in 2023. In Europe, most monarchs are required to take a simple oath in the presence of the country's legislature. Besides a coronation, a monarch's accession may be marked in many ways: some nations may retain a religious dimension to their accession rituals, while others have adopted simpler inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. Some cultures use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country.

Investiture (from the Latin preposition in and verb vestire, "dress" from vestis "robe") is a formal installation ceremony that a person undergoes, often to mark or celebrate their taking up membership in—or leadership of—a Christian religious institute, an order of chivalry (which may include knighthoods, damehoods, or other honours), or a governmental leadership role or office.

In an investiture, a person may receive (or be 'invested with') an outward symbol or marker of their membership, such as a religious habit (as with monastic communities), an ecclesiastical decoration (as with christian chivalric orders), a badge or medal (as with an honours investiture), a particular coloured veil (as with religious orders of women), or a scapular (as with confraternities). A person assuming political or clerical office (eg, as a bishop) may be given the symbols of authority or particular (usually historical) regalia of that office; these items often come to be regarded as manifestations of the polity or the religious order or institution itself, and are passed down from office-holder to their successor. Investiture can include formal dress and adornment, such as a robe of state, crown, or headdress; it often takes place in a particular space (a church or a parliament building etc) and other regalia such as a staff, sword, throne or sceptre may also play a role. An investiture is also often part of, or is similar to, a coronation rite or an episcopal enthronement.

The Basilica of Saint-Denis (French: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, now formally known as the Basilique-cathédrale de Saint-Denis) is a large former medieval abbey church and cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.

The basilica became a place of pilgrimage and a necropolis containing the tombs of the kings of France, including nearly every king from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century. Henry IV of France came to Saint-Denis formally to renounce his Protestant faith and become a Catholic. The queens of France were crowned at Saint-Denis, and the regalia, including the sword used for crowning the kings and the royal sceptre, were kept at Saint-Denis between coronations.

A sceptre (spelled scepter in American English) is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia, signifying sovereign authority.

The coronation of the Hungarian monarch was a ceremony in which the king or queen of the Kingdom of Hungary was formally crowned and invested with regalia. It corresponded to the coronation ceremonies in other European monarchies. While in countries like France and England the king's reign began immediately upon the death of his predecessor, in Hungary the coronation was absolutely indispensable: if it were not properly executed, the Kingdom stayed "orphaned". All monarchs had to be crowned as King of Hungary in order to promulgate laws and exercise his royal prerogatives in the Kingdom of Hungary. Starting from the Golden Bull of 1222, all new Hungarian monarchs had to take a coronation oath, by which they had to agree to uphold the constitutional arrangements of the country, and to preserve the liberties of their subjects and the territorial integrity of the realm.

The coronation of the monarch of the United Kingdom is an initiation ceremony in which they are formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, which have all abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. A coronation is a symbolic formality and does not signify the official beginning of the monarch's reign; de jure and de facto his or her reign commences from the moment of the preceding monarch's death or abdication, maintaining legal continuity of the monarchy.

The coronation usually takes place several months after the death of the monarch's predecessor, as it is considered a joyous occasion that would be inappropriate while mourning continues. This interval also gives planners enough time to complete the required elaborate arrangements. The most recent coronation took place on 6 May 2023 to crown King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

The Środa Treasure (Polish: skarb ze Środy Śląskiej or skarb średzki) is a hoard of silver and gold coinage, gold jewellery, royal regalia and precious stones found in years 1985–1988 during renovation works in the town of Środa Śląska, Poland. The discovered artifacts date from the mid 14th century and comprise over 3,000 pieces. Today it is the property of National Museum in Wrocław and has been kept at the Regional Museum in Środa Śląska.

A hoax (pl.: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.

Some hoaxers intend to eventually unmask their representations as having been a hoax so as to expose their victims as fools; seeking some form of profit, other hoaxers hope to maintain the hoax indefinitely, so that it is only when skeptical people willing to investigate their claims publish their findings, that the hoaxers are finally revealed as such.

An enthronement is a ceremony of inauguration, involving a person—usually a monarch or religious leader—being formally seated for the first time upon their throne. Enthronements may also feature as part of a larger coronation rite.

In a general sense, an enthronement may also refer to a ceremony marking a monarch's accession, generally distinguished from a coronation as no crown or other regalia is physically bestowed upon the one being enthroned, although regalia may be present at the ceremony.

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, which include the coronation regalia and vestments worn by British monarchs.

The coronation regalia are the only working set in Europe and the collection is the most historically complete of any royal regalia in the world. Objects used at the coronation ceremony variously denote the monarch's roles as head of state of the United Kingdom, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and head of the British armed forces. The regalia feature heraldic devices and national emblems of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and other Commonwealth countries.

Henry V (German: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in 1098.

In Emperor Henry IV's conflicts with the imperial princes and the struggle against the reform papacy during the Investiture Controversy, young Henry V allied himself with the opponents of his father. He forced Henry IV to abdicate on 31 December 1105 and ruled for five years in compliance with the imperial princes. He tried, unsuccessfully, to withdraw the regalia from the bishops. Then in order to at least preserve the previous right to invest, he captured Pope Paschal II and forced him to perform his imperial coronation in 1111. Once crowned emperor, Henry departed from joint rule with the princes and resorted to earlier Salian autocratic rule. After he had failed to increase control over the church, the princes in Saxony and on the Middle and Lower Rhine, in 1121 the imperial princes forced Henry V to consent with the papacy. He surrendered to the demands of the second generation of Gregorian reformers, and in 1122 he and Pope Callixtus II ended the Investiture Controversy in the Concordat of Worms.

Edinburgh Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Dhùn Èideann) is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as a military garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.

Edinburgh Castle has played a prominent role in Scottish history, and has served variously as a royal residence, an arsenal, a treasury, a national archive, a mint, a prison, a military fortress, and the home of the Honours of Scotland – the Scottish regalia. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, the castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1,100-year history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world". Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of 1573, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel from the early 12th century, which is regarded as the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Royal Palace, and the early 16th-century Great Hall. The castle is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. The castle is the regimental headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and houses their regimental museums, along with that of the Royal Scots.

The Iron Crown (in Italian, Latin, and Lombard: Corona Ferrea; German: Eiserne Krone) is a reliquary votive crown, traditionally considered one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fitted around a central silver band, which tradition held to be made of iron beaten out of a nail of the True Cross. In the later Middle Ages, the crown came to be seen as a heritage from the Kingdom of the Lombards and was used as regalia for the coronation of some Holy Roman Emperors as kings of Italy. It is kept in the Duomo of Monza.