A SERVICE to mark the King’s coronation will take place at St Giles’ Cathedral on the Royal Mile on Wednesday, where Charles will be presented with the Honours of Scotland – the country’s crown jewels.
As well as the Crown and Sceptre, among them will be the new “Elizabeth sword” – named after his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.
But what is this new ceremonial sword?
The sword was designed by Mark Dennis, an advocate from St Andrews, and worked on by a number of expert Scottish craftspeople.
The sword’s design takes inspiration from both thistles and the Scottish landscape, and features a pommel of Lewisian gneiss and a scabbard wrought from Perthshire oak.
It will be used on ceremonial occasions in place of the current sword, gifted to James IV by Pope Julius in 1507, which can no longer be used due to its fragile condition.
But its creation hasn’t been without controversy, especially given it cost the taxpayer around £22,000 to make – during a cost-of-living crisis.
The Honours of Scotland are normally kept on display in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle, under the care of Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
During the service, Katherine Grainger will bear the sword.
Dennis said of the sword: “There’s never been anything like it before. It was a concept and the concept was simply this: it had to work.
“It had to work as a ceremonial sword, so its overall dimensions are about the same as the Papal sword, but it also had to be entirely different.
“So the nature of it, the fact that the hilt and the quillings are a swirling thistle you’ll never have seen before on another sword.
“Gilded as it is, it looks appropriate. It looks like a sword of state.”
Dennis said he wanted to create something that truly represents Scotland, “not with the Scottie dogs and whisky bottles and things, but really integrally the land, the symbols and the sense of Scotland”.
Engraved on one side of the blade is the Royal motto, “In my defens God me defend”, and “Nemo me impune lacessit”, the motto of the Order of the Thistle, is engraved on the other.
