The Right of Peers to Attend the Accession Council and the Coronation

The coronation of English and later British Kings and Queens represents an ancient survival. Although changed greatly over time, the essence can be traced to the earliest centuries of pre-Conquest England. Contemporary pressures, including increased secularism and the changed role of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, have raised questions about the form and content of a future coronation in London. One of these is the role of the peerage, traditionally accorded a significant place in any coronation. This article will consider the question of the right of peers—hereditary or life—to attend a coronation. It does so by looking at whether a coronation is a legal or constitutional necessity, who can or should attend a coronation, and also looks briefly at some of the other activities associated with the accession of a new Sovereign, that traditionally involved members of the peerage.