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With all the excitement of the upcoming Coronation in the UK, it got me thinking about Coronations in other countries and also why the tradition lapsed in many countries.

I think the last non-British Coronation in Europe was that of Ferdinand and Marie of Romania in 1922. Before that there was the 1916 crowning in Budapest of Charles I and Zita as King and Queen of Hungary, is that correct? We have pictures of them physically wearing the crowns they were crowned with.

Interestingly I have seen several posts on Instagram recently suggesting that the pearls from Zita's crown were subsequently owned by Gina Lollobrigida who died recently (https://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/images/gina-lollobrigida-in-new-york-in-1963-wearing-the-pair-of-natural-pearl-earrings-that-sold-for-16-million-at-sothebys-london-in-april-2013/.)

Before that there was the Coronation of Ludwig III in Bavaria in 1914. I haven't been able to find any pictures or more information about what format a Bavarian coronation actually took such (was it in a Cathedral?) as the location or if the King ever actually wore the Crown or if his wife was crowned Queen alongside him.

I am aware that a number of German states had crowns made to celebrate being upgraded to Kingdoms after the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved but they didn't necessarily ever wear the crowns or have Coronations and they were more symbolic.

The only image I can find of the 1914 Bavarian coronation is the attached drawing however on Youtube there is a wonderful clip (maybe not historically accurate but magnificent nonetheless) of the coronation of the previous King Ludwig II - a royal protocol fan's absolute dream. If A Bavarian Coronation was really like this, it looks wonderful.





What other states had a Coronation ceremony and what reasons were they abandoned? I believe Norway scrapped there's in 1906, was there a reason for this as there was no real need to have had a coronation in the first place. I also believe Spain, Greece and the Netherlands have symbolic crowns but have never had a tradition of Coronation, whereas Belgium doesn't have a crown at all.

Looking beyond Europe there have been recent Coronations in the Malaysian state of Johor (there a series of wonderful documentaries on YouTube about it



I wonder do the other Malaysian states have a tradition of Coronations for individual states or is it just Johor?

Tonga also has a Coronation ceremony.