Queen Mary Chair

On the 25th July 1554, Queen Mary I married Philip of Spain at a ceremony at Winchester Cathedral. Eyewitness accounts describe the wedding in detail, yet none mention the presence of a velvet chair, known today as “the Queen Mary Chair”. The earliest recorded association of such a chair with Queen Mary appears almost 80 years after the wedding, in an account of a visit to the Cathedral by a member of the Norwich militia in 1635. In this account, the author, Lieutenant Hammond, describes a “purple velvet” chair in the Lady Chapel, “wherein (if you will believe Mr Verger) Queen Mary did sit, when she married King Philip”. An entry for a “blew velvet” chair in a Chapter account book dated 1633 is likely a reference to the same chair, but it is only from Hammond onwards that we see the connection to Mary.

The lack of historical evidence pre-1635 makes it difficult to confirm whether the chair was used by Mary or whether the link to Mary was simply a tale repeated by “Mr Verger” and others. It is similarly impossible to know for certain whether the chair Lieutenant Hammond saw during his visit in 1635 is the same as the chair in the Cathedral’s collections today. In an account of the attack on the Cathedral by Parliamentarian troops in 1642, the chair is described as having been badly damaged:

“From hence they go into Queen Maries Chappel, so called because in it she was married to King Philip of Spain: here they brake the Communion Table in pieces, and the Velvet Chair whereon she sate when she was married”.

Bruno Ryves, Mercurius Rusticus (1685)

Grose, F and Astle, T (eds) The Antiquarian Repertory, vol. IV, p.225-226

However, the chair today has no obvious repairs to the frame. Is the account wrong? Or could the chair today be a 18th-century replacement for an earlier chair lost in 1642? This theory is not impossible, but it feels odd that there are no historical reference to a replacement chair, particularly when, from the late 18th century onwards, the chair is so well-documented. Again and again, the chair appears in books and other publications, including this earliest known printed image of the chair published in the Antiquarian Repertory in 1784.

It is possible to see a strong correlation with the chair as it appears in 1784 as it does today, although with a few key differences to the seat and back. The editors of the Repertory also link the chair to Mary’s coronation, which took place at Westminster Abbey in 1553, rather than the wedding in 1554. The confusion around whether the chair was used at the wedding or at the coronation continues in later sources. As far as is known, there is at this time no definitive evidence which links the chair to either event. And yet neither can be discounted entirely. Mary’s close ally, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester (1483-1555), presided at both the coronation and wedding ceremony. Could the chair have come to Winchester through him?

Work to conserve the chair was undertaken by upholstery conservator, Heather Porter, ACR, between October 2024 – August 2025, thanks to the generous support of the Aurelius Trust, Idlewild Trust and Leche Trust. Careful specialised treatment was required to clean the chair’s highly fragile velvet and stabilise delicate and damaged parts.

Conservation has helped to protect and preserve the Queen Mary chair for future generations. However, it has also highlighted how fragile the chair and the velvet in particular is. Further curation is needed before the chair can be placed on physical display again. For now, it remains in safe storage.

Regal Records, or a Chronicle of the Coronation of the Queens Regnant of England, p.61

The conservation of the chair also provided an opportunity to study the chair in close detail and to try to better understand its structure and composition. From archive records, we know that the chair was subject to extensive repairs by a Mr Godwin in 1819 and that it is likely that the seat cushion, or squab, was added at this point. Mr Godwin was also paid to recover the chair, which suggests what little remains of the blue velvet we see today may not be original, but velvet to replace a previous velvet described often in the records as purple (though perceptions of colour and indeed the dye in the textile itself may have faded or altered). Evidence of a previous set of brass nails further supports the basis for work done by Godwin in 1819. This image appears in 1838 in a work called Regal Records, or a Chronicle of the Coronation of the Queens Regnant of England. In comparison to the illustration of 1784, the chair here is noticeably altered.

Other modern stitches and machine webbing are clear indications that the chair we see today is the sum of different parts which have become part of its evolution.

Besides the velvet itself, there are other points of interest. At the intersection of the X-frames at the front and back of the chair are bronze medallions decorated with a central Tudor rose. Four finials engraved with leaf and tendril designs and topped with circular caps embellish the chair. It is not known how old these finials are, however, recent conservation has uncovered traces of what could be gilt on the metalwork, which has dulled over time.

With special thanks to Wessex Archaeology, it is now possible to imagine how the finials may have once appeared in their gilded form through the use of modern technology and 3D modelling. Click on the links below to explore the chair and restored finial in close detail.

Queen Mary Chair Finial by Wessex Archaeology on Sketchfab

Queen Mary Chair by Wessex Archaeology on Sketchfab