The most noticeable feature in this order is perhaps the occurrence of
the Key among the regalia, an ornament peculiar to the Swedish rite, and
evidently an ancient peculiarity. It is possible that in this account the
taking of the oath is wrongly described as occurring after the anointing
instead of before it, for in subsequent orders it occurs in its proper
place, before the anointing. Also the king is stated to have crowned
himself, whereas in a contemporary engraving of the coronation of King
Carl Gustaf in 1654, the king is represented as being crowned by the
archbishop and the Princeps Senatus, Count Drotzel, conjointly, and
this has been the practice down to the last celebration of a coronation
ceremony in Sweden.
The coronation of a Swedish king in modern times may be illustrated by
the order used when Carl XV and Queen Wilhelmina Frederika were crowned
in 1860[144].
The king and queen proceed to the church in separate processions. The
king is met by the archbishop in his canonicals and the bishops in
their copes, the archbishop greeting him with the words _Blessed be he
that cometh in the name of the Lord_, and the Bishop of Skara saying a
prayer that the king may be endowed with grace to rule his people well.
The archbishop and bishops then escort the king to his seat before the
altar with the Royal Standard on his right hand and the banner of the
Order of the Seraphim on his left. The Bishop of Strengnäs and the other
bishops await the coming of the queen, and when she enters the Bishop
of Strengnäs greets her with the words _Blessed be she that cometh in
the name of the Lord_, and the Bishop of Hernosänd says a prayer almost
identical with that said at the king’s entrance. She is conducted to her
seat on the left side of the choir, and their Majesties kneel and make
their private devotions, while the regalia are deposited on the altar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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