The crowning of a British monarch is one of the oldest, most colorful and most romantic rituals in the world. Its roots reach back through history into legend. Almost everything about the ceremony stems from distant tradition—from the officers who attend to the robes they wear and the tales of heroism and terror that surround the Crown Jewels. A born storyteller with a love of history who grew up in England, Leonard Wibberley has brought together the varied and often inaccessible facts of the Coronation—a ceremony steeped in antiquity and unsurpassed in splendor—and has transformed them with skill and charm into a fascinating book rich in lore and humor.