We are reading the Prayer for the King's Majesty and the Prayer for the Royal Family each day at the end of Morning and Evening Prayer, as we prepare spiritually for the Coronation of our new King and Queen. The Coronation Rite is a liturgical act now unique to the Church of England, by which His Majesty becomes, through his anointing, a consecrated person set apart for God's service through the service of His people. It will be a ceremony rich in Christian symbolism, and one which connects the United Kingdom's present with its history and also with the history of the whole of Europe, where coronations were once the norm. The last French coronation (so far) was that of Charles X in 1825. French coronations, or sacres , were held at Reims, and the Duke of Burgundy, as First Great Vassal of the King of France (the second was the Duke of Normandy), carried the crown and invested the new king with the order of chivalry. Dieu sauve le Roi!