Coronation of Emperor Esmond III
 Emperor Esmond III, photographed the month before his coronation | |
| Date | 18 September 2010 |
|---|---|
| Location | Imperial Residence, Wrythe |
The coronation of HIM Emperor Esmond III as Emperor of Austenasia took place on Saturday 18 September 2010 - Austenasian Independence Day - in the Imperial Residence.
Precedent and background
There had only been one Emperor of Austenasia to reign prior to Esmond III, namely Terry I, the founding Emperor, who had held a coronation on 20 May 2009. This had taken place eight months after he became Emperor, nearly halfway through his reign, and had been a brief ceremony lasting only a few minutes. Wearing the Imperial Regalia of Austenasia - with the exception of the Imperial Diadem - Terry I had made promises to the nation seated on the spot in Parliament Hall from which the Austenasian Declaration of Independence was sent via e-mail on 20 September 2008. He was then crowned with the Diadem by his son Crown Prince Jonathan, in the latter's capacity as Founder.
A coronation was first proposed for Esmond III in the context of the Austenasian Civil War, as a means of adding further legitimation to Esmond's claim to the throne. The event was originally planned for 7 April 2010, then postponed twice - first to 12 April, then to an unspecified date later in the month - before an announcement was made on 22 April that it had been cancelled, perhaps to be held after the war was won. By this point, with a recent victory in the Battle of Carshalton Park and international support moving to his side, Esmond III was confident of winning the war and as such considered a coronation - which would have added nothing but ceremonial legitimacy - a low priority.
By the time the war was won the following month, the adherence to an early version of the Imperium doctrine by Esmond III and many of his followers had led to him viewing a coronation as unnecessary. In their view, Esmond already held a unique and unchallenged authority as Western Emperor; in the later words of Jonathan I: "it was half-forgotten that Esmond was Emperor of Austenasia. Rather, he was simply “the Emperor,” with Austenasia just a small part of his rightful jurisdiction".[1] However, on 11 September, Declan I of Copan announced that he would no longer recognise Esmond III as suzerain; it has been assumed that this was the main trigger for Esmond reversing his long-standing position on the desirability of a coronation, now urgently seeking to reaffirm his right to rule.
Coronation
The coronation of Esmond III that took place on 18 September 2010 was not planned beforehand. Instead, the Emperor arrived at Wrythe with no warning, alongside two leading Orlians. The then Crown Prince Jonathan, his sister the then Princess Caroline, and his mother the then Vicereine Margaret were home, and gladly welcomed the Emperor to the Imperial Residence. The Emperor had a friendly conversation with Princess Caroline (his former rival in the civil war), with the two making it clear no enmity remained between them, and after wishing the Wrythians a happy Independence Day, Esmond III and his companions accompanied the Crown Prince upstairs to the Prime Minister's Office.
The Imperial Regalia had been stored in the Prime Minister's Office since the end of the civil war, and were presented to the Emperor by Crown Prince Jonathan. A contemporary narration by the Crown Prince describes what happened next:
"The Emperor took the Imperial Chain from its box and put it on around his neck. The Imperial Robes were carefully taken out of my wardrobe and presented to him, but the Monarch announced that he would use a paragraph of Act 108 to change what was designated as the Imperial Robes to the clothes he was already wearing, and I gave my consent to this. I held up the Imperial Diadem to crown him, but His Imperial Majesty took the Diadem from my hands and crowned himself Emperor of Austenasia, directly above the spot that the Declaration of Independence had been sent two years previously. Myself and the two others present gazed in reverent awe at the Western Augustus wearing his Imperial Diadem, after which he removed it, and placed his hands on the Imperial Sceptre. After this, he replaced the sceptre and returned the Imperial Chain to its box, and announced that the original Imperial Robes were redesignated as such."
The coronation of Esmond III therefore followed a far less structured pattern than that of Terry I, being a very spontaneous affair. The Emperor's focus was on ensuring he crowned himself with the Imperial Diadem rather than caring for much of an actual ceremony.
The choice of Esmond III to crown himself as opposed to being crowned by the Crown Prince was justified by appealing to the precedent of Byzantine and Russian coronations, and was openly acknowledged to signify that the Throne was not to be considered in any sense responsible to the Prime Minister. The lack of any coronation promises was likewise interpreted by some as being due to the relatively absolutist stance of Esmond III.
Analysis
The choice of date for Esmond's visit and coronation should not be overlooked; by choosing Austenasia's second Independence Day for his coronation - especially as it was unplanned - a major milestone in the still relatively young Empire's history became completely overshadowed by his presence in the capital, with Esmond III thereby imposing a symbolic pre-eminence almost over the nation itself.
The Prime Minister's Office is located directly above Parliament Hall, and so by coincidence, Esmond III was crowned above the same spot on which Terry I had been crowned the previous year. Although noted by the Crown Prince in his narration from the day, it is unlikely this link had been by design, but it enabled continuity to be emphasised and for subsequent coronations being in the same location to be made a formal requirement.
With the event having taken place in the Prime Minister's Office with no notice, the intended audience was not so much those actually present but rather those - likely Declan I in particular - to whom by publicising the fact he had held a coronation with physical regalia, Esmond III could bolster his monarchical credentials and ceremonial legitimacy.[2]
References
- ↑ Jonathan I (2020) 2010: The Year of the Three Emperors, p. 12
- ↑ Comparisons can be drawn with the coronation of Terry I, which took place with only the Emperor and Crown Prince present but was filmed for broadcast via YouTube, as well as that of Jonathan I, whose guests were exclusively foreign dignitaries.
| Preceded by: Terry I |
Coronations in Austenasia Coronation of Emperor Esmond III |
Succeeded by: Jonathan I |
