Kōrero: Religion and society

Since 1066, 38 kings and queens of the United Kingdom have been crowned in Westminster Abbey, London. Queen Victoria was crowned there on 28 June 1838, aged 19. The five-hour ceremony did not go entirely smoothly – her coronation ring was forced onto the wrong finger and an elderly peer fell down the steps – but Victoria described it as the proudest day of her life. The head of state's crowning in an Anglican abbey emphasises that in England and Ireland the church was 'established' – it was an official part of the operation of the state. Many settlers from Britain attempted to establish the Anglican Church as the state church of New Zealand, but they did not succeed.