Liber Regalis (Royal Book — Coronation Ordinal)
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, creator ac gubernator caeli et terrae… da huic famulo tuo N. ita corde et opere…
Our renderingAlmighty everlasting God, creator and governor of heaven and earth… grant to this thy servant N. to serve thee in heart and deed…
What it is
The Liber Regalis is the coronation ordinal held at Westminster Abbey (MS 38) that provided the order of service for every English coronation from Richard II through Elizabeth I. For James I's coronation in 1603, it was translated into English for the first time, and all subsequent Stuart and Windsor coronation liturgies descend directly from that adaptation. The anointing, investiture, and crowning prayers recited over every Stuart and Windsor monarch derive ultimately from this single manuscript. It is now on permanent display in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey, and the coronation of Charles III in 2023 traces its liturgical form through this medieval book.
Why it still matters
The anointing prayers — petitioning for wisdom and the fear of God upon a newly appointed leader — are publicly available and can be used as intercessions at any ordination, installation, or commissioning service.
Kept alongside
Hymns Ancient and Modern
The dominant hymnal of Victorian and Edwardian England, first published in 1861 under the editorial leadership of Rev. Henry Williams Baker and with music edited by William Henry Monk. It sold 35 million copies by 1901 alone and was used in over 76 percent of Church of England parishes by 1892. The royal family worshipped at St George's Chapel Windsor and the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle throughout the Victorian and Edwardian periods, where this hymnal governed congregational song. Its blend of ancient Latin translations and modern evangelical hymns shaped the devotional formation of every generation of the Windsor dynasty from Victoria onward.
The English Hymnal (1906)
The English Hymnal with Tunes
An Anglo-Catholic hymnal edited by Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams, published in 1906, that became one of the most musically distinguished hymnals in the history of Anglican worship. It introduced English folk-song arrangements and Vaughan Williams's own settings (including Sine Nomine for 'For All the Saints') and was adopted by a significant minority of Church of England parishes alongside or instead of Hymns Ancient and Modern. As the hymnal that represented the highest standards of Anglican choral tradition in the early-to-mid 20th century, it would have been familiar in major royal chapels and choral foundations including St George's Windsor.
The Psalmes of King David Translated by King James
James VI personally undertook a metrical paraphrase of the Psalms from around 1601, intending it to supersede the Sternhold-Hopkins Psalter then in common use. Drafts in the king's own hand survive as British Library manuscript Royal 18.B.xvi; however, the majority of the published 1631 text was completed by William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, after James's death in 1625. Charles I authorized its publication in 1631 and ordered it to be sung in churches, though it was not ultimately adopted as the standard psalter. The project represents documented Stuart royal engagement with the Davidic tradition and the devotional ambition to give England a royally authored Scripture paraphrase.