"A Not-So-Brief History of British Coronations"

From Smithsonian Magazine, May 2:

George IV’s 1821 coronation was a lavish affair, costing upwards of $26 million in today’s dollars. An estimated 4,656 guests flocked to Westminster Abbey in London, many of them dressed in costumes inspired by fashions of centuries past. After the British king was crowned, a select group of attendees moved to Westminster Hall for a banquet featuring 160 dishes of fish, 480 sauce boats, 80 savory pies and 100 gallons of iced punch. The highlight of the feast was the ceremonial arrival of the king’s champion, a nobleman who rode into the hall in full armor and threw down his gauntlet as a challenge to anyone who might object to George’s rule.

It was one of the more notable in the thousand-year history of British coronations—George’s estranged wife, Queen Caroline, tried to crash the occasion. The ceremony marked the last time a banquet and an appearance by the king’s champion formed part of the day’s festivities....

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I need an Orb and Sceptre.