On This Day In Royal History . 19 July 1821 . King George IV coronation . . ◼ When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent, then aged 57, ascended the throne as George IV, with no real change in his powers. He had been the Prince Regent following the decline in his father’s mental illness for eleven years. . The New kings lifestyle was extraordinary & extravagant in every way. He had enjoyed a huge number of mistresses in his earlier days; his gluttonous love of food & drink was proverbial; & his exotic taste in art & architecture had already produced England’s most flamboyant building – the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. . Then came the coronation possibly the most extravagant in history. Seven supporters, eldest sons of peers, were needed to uphold the nine yards of his heavy & magnificent train of crimson velvet, decorated with golden stars. Beneath the train he wore a tight-fitting white satin suit in sixteenth-century style, with a neo-classical mantle of blue velvet, embroidered in gold & lined with ermine. On his head he flaunted a black Spanish hat decked with white ostrich feathers & a heron’s plume. Curls of his wig fell coquettishly over his forehead. . The painter Benjamin Haydon was present to see the king’s entry & wrote a memorable description: ‘Something rustles, & a being buried in satin, feathers & diamonds rolls gracefully into his seat. The room rises with a sort of feathered, silken thunder. Plumes wave, eyes sparkle, glasses are out, mouths smile & one man becomes the prime object of attraction to thousands. The way in which the King bowed was really royal. As he looked towards the peeresses & foreign ambassadors, he showed like some gorgeous bird of the east’. . . . #Onthisdayinhistory #thisdayinhistory #theyear1821 #coronation #d19jul #kinggeorgeIV #GeorgeIV #HouseofHanover #History #BritishMonarchy #RoyalHistory #Portraitpainting #historyinpictures #Britishhistory #Britishroyals #otd #Britishroyalfamily #Britishroyalty #Westminster #Westminsterabbey #Royals #GreatBritain #Historic #HistoryFacts #onthisday #Royalhistory #Theking #onthisday #London 🎨 Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021. (at Westminster Abbey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRf1EfEsjai/?utm_medium=tumblr










