Coronations

[Dragostae]

So, the Coronation of our new King and Queen was about a week ago. Cool things were done, such as the lineage being sung, and just some other neat things. I can't remember -everything-, mostly because I was trying to keep some friends out of trouble, but with the outgoing royals knighting a gentle, it was a busy, busy event. Even cooler, we got to see the Ancient and Honorable crowns being used, which was also crazy neat, as they aren't used much, though, I think that's due to heft and age.

What are the cool things that your kingdom does at Coronations? (I'm a bit of an interkingdom anthropology nerd. Don't mind me.)  

[Divash]

I've never been to a coronation, and this season's coronation takes place on a holiday which prevents me from going. I'm hoping to get to see the next one, though.

Mazal tov to the new knight! Hip hip huzzah!  

[Out to the Black]

I'll let you know after I go to one. Our coronation is this weekend. It might be a little nuts and filled with extra stuff though since it's also our kingdom's 40 anniversary. And the sixth coronation of Dag. I've been told that's unusual.  

[Dragostae]

If I could go to Midrealm's Coronation, I would (too far, too expensive). And Dag is a superduke, so yes, it is. He's in elite company. The closest we have is Calontir is Duke Valens, who's been king five times.  

[Out to the Black]

So Coronation was great. We had a wonderful location in the very cool old church on the University of Chigago campus. Someone was made Draco Incarnate (sp?) which was very cool. Court later was even better because we had the current royalty Calontir, Eldomir (queen only) and Northshield. Since they are the "children" of the Midrealm and Dag likes schtick, they were all behaving somewhat childish. There were kazoos and bubble guum involved. The Queens of Eldormir and Northshield seemed to be in a bubble blowing contest at one point. Oo oo! At the event, they had a lot of cool scrolls and things from the entire history of the Midrealm and they even had The Book (that's the Great Book of the Midrealm) there. It was beautiful. Each page is a work of art.  

[Runa Whynd]

Yeah, that was pretty cool. And did anyone else notice that the royal court seemed like it had been planned by a set designer? King Dag in solid black, Queen AnneMarie in shining white, both very fancy and fine, with the brilliant red and green Midrealm Dragon hanging behind. The rest wearing comparitively simple garb that harmonized with thier own banners.
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Sorry. I have an interest in set dressing and costume design so I notice these things. Maybe I'm just crazy and it was all a coincidence.

We also had the Prince of Ansteorra for some reason.

And I think you spelled Ealdormere wrong.  

[Dragostae]

I heard about that from Her Majesty Calontir on Facebook. Apparently, it was Queen Adrielle (or Badrielle, as she put it) plotting that one.  

[Berzerker_prime]

I toyed with the idea of hopping across the boarder to go to Midrealm 40th. I elected not to, since my October is a maelstrom of insanity and that weekend was going to be my only break all month. Plus, I count myself a pure-blood Northshielder, since I started playing after we went Kingdom, so I don't feel the tie to Midrealm in quite the same way a lot of other folks do. Now, I sort of regret the decision. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the event and it feels like I missed a fantastic chance to hear a lot of wonderful stories about the earlier days of my kingdom.

Live and learn I guess.

But, on the subject of the OP...

The last Northshield Coronation I went to was that of King Stephen and Queen Ailleanne. Their coronation included a ceremony where their predecessors left the crowns and thrones of Northshield in the keeping of the Chivalry, held in trust on behalf of the people, until they came forward to claim them. The idea was that the thrones and the crowns exist for the people and not the ones who sit in and wear them. It was a very moving and touching gesture to express the idea so openly.  

[Divash]

I wasn't at Midrealm 40 Year either, despite the fact that the event took place just across town for me. Like most events, it took place over the Jewish Sabbath, and I can't travel by car on Shabbat, only by foot. Camping events are easier, because I can get there with enough time to get camp set up well before sundown on Friday and not have to leave till Sunday morning. Events where you can't get there till Saturday morning and have to leave Saturday night, those are just horrible for me, because I can't attend at all. I know that the celebration was supposed to also take place on Sunday, but in reality, Sunday was just an ordinary fighter practice which I elected not to attend because I don't fight. Like, ever.

But I have seen the pictures from 40 Year, and they are beautiful. If any of you are on the Midrealm YahooGroup, go check in the old posts; someone posted about the dress worn by the new Queen Annemarie, which was apparently even more gorgeous in person than the photographs show. The details of the dress's construction are posted somewhere in the group's messages archive, as of last week.

Also, the Incipient Barony of Ayreton presented the Crown with a set of banners, each one depicting the shield of a different barony or incipient barony within the Middle Kingdom, each made by citizens of Ayreton. They were beautifully made. The new monarchs asked Ayreton to hang onto them until they could make a formal presentation to each of the baronies at Pennsic. They'll most likely be used for the opening parade.

The lists are alive right now with discussions of other gifts that can be given along with the banners, now. Banner stands, carrying cases/bags for the collection of banners, and so on are being discussed as potential ideas. It's very cool to be in an incipient barony.