CORONATIONS - Ian Lloyd

Lice in the Ermine, looting guests, page boy punch-ups guests caught short... the most shocking moments of 1,000 years of British coronations

Ian Lloyd's book -

'Edward II's gay friend Piers Gaveston insisted on giving the monarch 'kisses and repeated embraces.'

'At Edward VII's Coronation, in 1902, the Archbishop put the crown on backwards...' 

'During the procession, the royal princes, aged 11 and eight, had a fight in a carriage...'

'At Henry VIII's banquet, there were servants crawling underneath the table, their task being to assist the ladies to 'urinate when required'...

'Henry IV's ermine cap was infected with lice and he went bald. William III had an asthma attack, while George I was surrounded by his mistresses.'