Retrieved on 7 March 2008. His clients included a Royal Duke and at least twenty-one assorted peers and peeresses. He is not a household name today largely because his provincial work was heavily influenced by Kent and Burlington, and unlike his contemporary Giacomo Leoni he did not develop, or was not given the opportunity to develop, a strong personal stamp to his work on country houses.
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Certain personal privileges are afforded to all peers and peeresses, but the main distinction of a peerage nowadays, apart from access to the House of Lords for life peers and some hereditary peers, is the title and style thereby accorded. Succession claims to existing hereditary peerages are regulated by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct and administered by The Crown Office.
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The Gentleman's Magazine 1821, pp. 13-14 The hall was lit by 2,000 candles in 26 vast chandeliers, but due to the heat of the day, the peers and peeresses below were continually being hit by large globules of melted wax.Strong 2005, pp. 388-390 The 23 temporary kitchens which had been built adjacent to the hall produced 160 tureens of soup and a similar number of hot fish and roast dishes, along with 3,271 cold dishes.
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An artist's impression of the coronation service by Henry Charles Brewer (1866 – 1943) and published in The Illustrated London News. The coronation service itself began once the procession into the abbey was over and the King and Queen were seated. Beginning with the recognition, the King then took an oath and was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being crowned king. As a remnant of the coronation ceremony's feudal origins, the King then received homage from the peers and peeresses of the realm in attendance.
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An earl's coronation robes All peers and peeresses in attendance are "expected to wear" Robes of State, as described below. These robes are different to the 'Parliament Robe' (worn on occasion by peers who are members of the House of Lords); all peers summoned to attend wear the Robe of State, regardless of membership of the House of Lords, and peeresses' robes are worn not only by women who are peers in their own right, but also by wives and widows of peers. Those entitled to a collar of an order of knighthood wear it over (and attached to) the cape.
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The privilege of peerage extends to all temporal peers and peeresses regardless of their position in relation to the House of Lords. The right to sit in the House is separate from the privilege, and is held by only some peers (see History of reform of the House of Lords). Scottish peers from the Acts of Union 1707 and Irish peers from the Act of Union 1800, therefore, have the privilege of peerage. From 1800, Irish peers have had the right to stand for election to the United Kingdom House of Commons but they lose the privilege of peerage for the duration of their service in the lower House.
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During the Coronation, peers and peeresses put on coronets. Like their robes, their coronets are differentiated according to rank: the coronet of a duke or duchess is ornamented with eight strawberry leaves, that of a marquess or marchioness has four strawberry leaves alternating with four raised silver balls, that of an earl or countess eight strawberry leaves alternating with eight raised silver balls, that of a viscount or viscountess has sixteen smaller silver balls and that of a baron or baroness six silver balls. Peeresses' coronets are identical to those of peers, but smaller. In addition, peeresses were told in 1953 that "a tiara should be worn, if possible".
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Supplement to the London Gazette, 10 November 1937, issue no. 34453, pp. 7055–56 Once adorned with his regalia and seated in St Edward's Chair, King George was crowned with St Edward's Crown by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the people in the abbey proclaimed loudly "God save the King"; the peers and peeresses wore their coronets (the only time that this happens) and the guns in the Royal Parks were fired to mark the crowning.Supplement to the London Gazette, 10 November 1937, issue no. 34453, p. 7056 The ceremony appeared to run smoothly, although there were a few inconspicuous mishaps: the Archbishop of Canterbury almost placed the crown on the King's head the wrong way, one bishop stepped on the King's train, and another concealed the words of the Oath with his thumb while the King was reading it.
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Peeresses (both female peers and the wives of male peers) also wear a crimson robe at coronations, but it is of a different design: a crimson velvet kirtle, edged in miniver, is worn closely over a full evening dress; the robe itself is attached at the shoulder, and takes the form of a long train of matching crimson velvet, edged with miniver. At the top of the train is a miniver cape (the same width as the train) which has rows of ermine indicating rank, as for their male counterparts. The length of the train also denotes the rank of the wearer: duchesses have two-yard trains, marchionesses one and three quarters, countesses one and a half, viscountesses one and a quarter, and baronesses (and female holders of lordships of Parliament) one. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, very precise details about the design of peers' and peeresses' robes (and what is to be worn underneath them) were published by the Earl Marshal in advance of each coronation.
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