BBC issues correction after error on 'British coronations since 1066'

In a broadcast during the build-up to the coronation of King Charles, viewers of the BBC’s News at One programme on May 5 were told the incorrect statistic.

In fact, since 1066 there have been many “British” monarchs coronated in Scotland, including James VI – who would also become King of England after the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

The BBC noted on its errors page: “When reporting live from Westminster Abbey on the day before the coronation of King Charles III we said that the venue had played host to ‘all Britain’s coronations since 1066’.

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“To be clear some have taken place elsewhere including the crowning of Scottish monarchs.”

King Charles was coronated at Westminster Abbey on May 6, the day after the broadcast.

James VI of Scotland was coronated at the Holy Rude Kirk in Stirling in 1567. He would go on to be crowned James I of England at Westminster in 1603.

Scottish monarchs preceding James were also coronated north of the Border.

Mary, Queen of Scots (below), was coronated at Stirling Castle’s Chapel Royal in 1543.

The Stone of Destiny, on which British monarchs are now coronated, was not taken from Scotland to England until 1296, during the reign of Edward I.

Alexander III, the King of Scotland until his death in 1286, was coronated on the stone at Moot Hill, Scone in 1249.

The BBC’s error may have been lifted directly from the Royal Family’s website, which states on a list of “little known facts” about Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953: “1. Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every coronation since 1066.”

Westminster Abbey is the burial place of Edward the Confessor, who died in 1066. It was then the location for the crowning of William the Conqueror that same year.