Demise of the Crown: Farewell to Westminster

As the official public record since 1665, The Gazette has been recording the deaths of monarchs for over three centuries. As part of our ‘Demise of the Crown’ series, historian Russell Malloch looks through the archives at The Gazette’s reporting of demise events during following the death of King George II.

Chapters

Introduction

Westminster to Windsor

Knights of the Garter

The three Kings

Death and accession notices

Earl Marshal’s orders

King George II died in October 1760 (Gazette issue 10046), one year after his granddaughter Elizabeth and, like her, his funeral service was held in Westminster Abbey, as it had been decided that the sovereign’s remains belonged to London, rather than being taken to Hanover to lie beside those of his father and other members of the electoral family.

The King was the last monarch to maintain a close personal association with his family’s German dominions, and he travelled to Hanover many times between 1729 and 1755, but England would be his final destination.

On 4 November 1760 The Gazette published the printed ceremonial to be observed at the King’s funeral one week later, and over the next few days it contained the deputy earl marshal’s notices relating to the demise. The first was dated 6 November, and dealt with transport, timing, lighting, procedure and insignia (Gazette issue 10050):

“In pursuance of an order of council, dated the 3d of this instant November, the solemnity of the interment of His late Majesty King George the Second is appointed to be performed on Tuesday next: these are therefore to give public notice, that all persons on this occasion are to alight at Westminster Hall Gate, to which place they are to return to their coaches or chairs after the ceremony is over; and that the peers of Great Britain and Ireland, privy councellors and judges are desired to meet in the House of Lords at seven of the clock in the evening; at which time all other persons mentioned in the printed ceremonial, do attend in the Painted Chamber, where they will be marshalled and put in order by the officers of arms appointed for that purpose.

And all persons are required to take notice, that in order to prevent any interruption to the funeral, no coaches are to be admitted to stay, or come into the New Palace Yard after five of the clock in the afternoon of the said day; and that the lights in all the places and passages be not extinguished until the whole ceremony is over, and the company returned to their coaches or chairs.

And that the white staff officers being by act of Parliament continued in their respective offices, are not to break their staves as has been formerly practiced.

That all the knights of the Garter, Thistle, and of the Bath, who shall walk in this procession, are to wear the collars of their respective orders.”

The second notice was dated 8 November, and dealt with problems in communicating with relevant parties during the short period of time that elapsed between the demise and the funeral service:

“Whereas the great difficulty of finding the places of abode in town of many of the peers of that part of Great Britain called Scotland, and of Ireland, makes it almost impossible to send a summons to every individual; it is hoped and desired, that all such peers and others, named in the ceremonial, will accept of this general notice, and attend His late Majesty’s funeral at seven of the clock on Tuesday evening the 11^th instant, at the respective places appointed for them.”

The printed programme referred to the barons, viscounts and earls of Ireland, but without assigning places to the Scottish noblemen. As happened in 1751, after the death of the Prince of Wales, The Gazette did not record what occurred on the day of George II’s funeral, and confirm whether the Irish and Scottish peers managed to take part, but instead the authorities limited the account of the royal obsequies to the ceremonial that was gazetted one week before the service (Gazette issue 10049).

Knights of the Bath

The procession to mark the passing of George II began with the Knight Marshal’s men “with black staves”, and then a familiar pageant of royal servants, judges, peers, privy counsellors and bishops, along with a dozen Yeomen of the Guard carrying the body, and six dukes acting as pall bearers. A new place in the cavalcade was found for members of the Order of the Bath, an organisation that was instituted in 1725, and so had not featured in any of the Stuart ritual.

This was the only occasion when the Order of the Bath appeared in this setting, as The Gazette does not indicate that the knights walked at any of the later Hanoverian events. The Bath was, however, assigned a place in the procession of representatives of the orders of knighthood that walked in Westminster Abbey in 2022 before the arrival of the Queen’s coffin.

George II was buried in the vault in King Henry VII’s Chapel and, after the dean of Westminster had concluded the service, Garter king of arms delivered his proclamation. The wording he used to mark a demise of the crown was gazetted for the first time, as the king of arms adapted the text that was used for Queen Caroline in 1737, and added a reference to the monarch’s relationship with the Garter:

“Thus it hath pleased almighty God, to take out of this transitory life unto his divine mercy, the late most high, most mighty, and most excellent monarch, George the Second, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, and sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, arch-treasurer and elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

Let us beseech almighty God to bless and preserve with long life, health and honour, and all worldly happiness, the most high, most mighty, and most excellent monarch, our sovereign lord George the Third, now by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, and sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, arch-treasurer and elector of the Holy Roman Empire. God save King George the Third.”

The absence of any recognition of George II’s status as sovereign of the Order of the Bath in Garter’s proclamation is notable, as the funeral service took place in King Henry VII’s Chapel, which had housed the stall plates and banners of the knights of the Bath for more than three decades. It is also the case that the abbey had witnessed four Bath installations during George II’s reign, and that The Gazette had provided a long and detailed account of the proceedings, including the duties that were performed by the dean of Westminster and Garter king of arms at the gathering of the knights in 1732 (Gazette issue 7106).

Order of the Bath flags in the Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey

Sovereign of the Garter

The phrasing of the monarch’s post-mortem proclamation after 1760 continued to restrict the narrative to the sovereign’s role as the head of the Order of the Garter, as happened in 2022, even although Queen Elizabeth II was also the sovereign of the Orders of the Bath, the Thistle, and so on.

The royal family’s links with Westminster Abbey had altered since The Gazette went into print in the 1660s, as the sovereign and the knights of the Bath had gained a foothold in King Henry VII’s Chapel in 1725 and started to forge a relationship between the order and the church that continues into the 21^st century.

The crowning of kings and queens continued to be performed at Westminster after 1760, but George II was the last monarch to be laid to rest in the abbey, as his grandson and heir, George III, and all of the later successors to the crown were buried at Windsor, either in St George’s Chapel, or in the mausoleum and burial ground on the estate.

Windsor’s long-standing connection with the royal knights of the Garter was maintained under the House of Hanover, and was emphasised in 1762 when George III’s uncle and brother – William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and Edward Augustus, Duke of York – attended the offering up of the late King’s banner (Gazette issue 10247). That ceremony continued the sequence of placing the sovereign’s heraldic achievements on the altar of St George’s, which The Gazette had reported for Queen Anne in 1718 and George I in 1728.

The abbey provided the venue for other royal funerals long after Windsor became the sovereign’s favoured resting place. This was demonstrated in the late 20^th century, when the abbey organised services to commemorate the passing of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma in 1979 and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III

Succession to the Crown is essential reading for anyone with a keen interest in the British royal family and provides an excellent and trusted source of information for historians, researchers and academics alike. The book takes you on a journey exploring the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy, from the demise of King Charles II in 1685, through to the accession of King Charles III, as recorded in The London Gazette.

Historian Russell Malloch tells the story of the Crown through trusted, factual information found in the UK's official public record. Learn about the traditions and ceremony engrained in successions right up to the demise of Queen Elizabeth II and the resulting proclamation and accession of King Charles III.

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About the author

Russell Malloch is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society and an authority on British honours. He authored Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III, which explores the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy.

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Succession to the Crown: - From Charles II to Charles III (TSO shop)

Images

The Gazette

Old Town Tourist / Alamy Stock Photo