The pair of Chairs of Estate were previously created for the 1953 Coronation. One was used by Queen Elizabeth II at the ceremony, and the other, made for The Duke of Edinburgh, was delivered straight to Buckingham Palace. They have a gilt beechwood frame and are upholstered with silk damask.
Their style is characteristic of English chairs from the late seventeenth century but with slightly lower backs to enable greater visibility of the sovereign.
The front legs are carved with scrolls and a cypher, – ‘EIIR’ for Queen Elizabeth II on one chair, and ‘P’, for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on the other, both enclosed by the Garter of the Order of the Garter. Following the 1953 Coronation, the chairs were placed in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace. The form of this pair of chairs of estate was inspired by the Chairs of Estate used at the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary at Westminster Abbey in 1911.
In preparation for the Coronation, Gilding and Furniture Conservators from the Royal Collection Trust have cleaned, restored and consolidated the giltwood frames. New silk damask was woven by the Humphries Weaving Company, Suffolk to the same pattern with which they were originally upholstered. This was to allow for the cyphers of The King and The Queen Consort – specially created by the Royal School of Needlework to replace those of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, which were removed and will be kept in the Royal Collection.