Mary I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey on 1 October 1553, less than three months after her half-brother Edward VI died.

Her coronation had not been assured. Before his death, Edward had attempted to exclude both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Jane was proclaimed queen in July, but Mary gathered political and popular support. Within days, the attempt collapsed, and Mary entered London as queen.

The coronation presented a question that previous English ceremonies had not needed to answer. Mary was a woman, but she was not a queen consort deriving her position from a husband. She held the Crown herself and claimed the authority traditionally exercised by a king.

Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, conducted the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony anointed and crowned Mary and presented the regalia associated with royal authority. The service publicly placed her in the position previously held by English sovereigns.

Mary was the first queen regnant to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. Her sex would create further political questions during her reign, particularly over marriage; her coronation treated her as the holder of the Crown.

On 1 October 1553, Mary’s political victory during the succession crisis received its formal ceremonial expression. England had crowned a queen who ruled in her own right.