The privilege of being the first commoners to acclaim each new sovereign at their coronation in Westminster Abbey is reserved for the Scholars of Westminster School.\u00a0 At a coronation, when the crown touches the Monarch’s head, it is the Scholars who hail the King or Queen thrice in chorus with the words \u2018Vivat Rex\u2019 (or \u2018Regina\u2019).\u00a0 Their role in the ceremony has long led to coronations being an anticipated occasion, with one O.W. noting that \u2018his sole source of satisfaction at leaving school was the knowledge that he should no longer wish for the death of his sovereign, as till then he had been completely possessed by the ambition of witnessing a coronation as a Westminster boy\u2019.<\/p>\n
The long reign of Victoria, and poor recording of the procedures followed for her 1838 coronation, resulted in the school having some difficulty asserting the rights of the scholars.\u00a0 Before the coronation of Edward VII, Dr. Gow, Head Master, attended the Court of Claims to support the right of the King\u2019s Scholars to be present and acclaim the King, using precedents drawn from the Abbey\u2019s Muniments.\u00a0 Dr. Gow noted afterwards that \u2018the Court was in doubt whether the shouts of the boys constituted a service of which the Court should take cognizance, but Lord Halsbury expressly said to me \u201cWe are agreed that you ought to be there\u201d and the other members of the Court assented with smiles\u2019.<\/p>\n Dr. Gow anticipated that there might be changes to the coronation ceremony in 1902, noting that whilst the Abbey \u2018remains the same size as before\u2026the British Empire has nearly trebled its population and has developed an extraordinary taste for pageantries\u2019.\u00a0 As a result the King\u2019s Scholars, for the first time since 1685, were placed in the Triforium, where they have sat for coronations ever since.<\/p>\n However, one aspect of the 1902 coronation was to prove beneficial to the Scholars.\u00a0 In the first part of the service the Sovereign processes from the west end of the Abbey through the nave and choir to the Theatre. During this verses from Psalm 122 are sung: \u2018I was glad when they said unto me: We will go into the house of the Lord\u2019. Several musical settings of these words had been used over the centuries, but Sir Hubert Parry\u2019s version has been sung since its first performance at the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.\u00a0 Parry incorporated into his setting the cries of \u2018Vivat Rex! and Vivat Regina!\u2019 thus acknowledging the part played by the Scholars in the service.<\/p>\n Their role was further confirmed when in 1907, Sir William Anson wrote his influential The Law and Custom of the Constitution.\u00a0 <\/em>In this text Anson noted that at the coronation \u2018the people signify their willingness and joy by loud and repeated acclamations\u2019 and for this purpose are \u2018represented by the boys of Westminster School, who rehearse beforehand the part played by the crowd at a medieval coronation\u2019.<\/p>\n The costume of the scholars appears not to have been fixed and we have few detailed accounts of what was worn.\u00a0 We do know that for the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 the scholars wore \u2018a swallow-tail coat, white waistcoat, dress shirt, butterfly-collar and bands, velvet knee-breeches, silk stockings, patent-leather slippers with buckles, open surplice, and college-cap.\u00a0 The Master of the King\u2019s Scholars noted that this was acquired cheaply from the School Store and the whole cost was under \u00a32.\u00a0 He also had the foresight to have some food sent up to the Triforium in advance, rather than risk the scholars having \u2018bulging pockets\u2019 and College Hall obliged by providing biscuits and chocolate.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archiveblog.westminster.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/P0001_039a-2-Meade-Thomas.jpg\")
<\/a>Although it is probable that Scholars were present at every Coronation since the refoundation of the School by Queen Elizabeth, the first reference to their presence occurs in Sandford\u2019s History of the Coronation of King James II<\/em>.\u00a0 It is noted that \u2018<\/em>when the Queen entered the Choir, the King\u2019s Scholars of Westminster School, in number forty, all in surplices, being placed in a Gallery adjoining the Great Organ-Loft, entertained Her Majesty with this short Prayer or Salutation, \u2018Vivat Regina Maria\u2019; which they continued to sing until His Majesty entered the Choir, whom they entertained in like manner with this Prayer or Salutation \u2018Vivat Jacobus Rex\u2019, which they continued to sing until His Majesty ascended the Theatre.\u2019\u00a0 From this coronation onwards there are records of scholars being in attendance at coronations in Westminster Abbey.<\/p>\n<\/a>