Coronation of the British monarch on Christmas Day, possibly in imitation of the Byzantine emperors, and John's was on Ascension Day. Elizabeth I consulted her astrologer, John Dee, before deciding on an auspicious date. The coronations of Charles II in 1661 and Anne in 1702 were on St George's Day, the feast of the patron saint of England. Under the Hanoverian monarchs in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was deemed appropriate to extend the waiting period to several months, following a period of mourning for the previous monarch and to allow time for preparation of the ceremony. In the case of every monarch
Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset With this power, the Duchess of Somerset considered herself the first lady of the realm, claiming precedence over Henry VIII's widow, following the latter's marriage to the Duke of Somerset's brother, Thomas Seymour. The Duchess considered that Catherine Parr forfeited her rights of precedence when she married the younger brother of the Duchess's husband. She refused to bear Catherine's train, and even physically tried to push her out of her place at the head of their entrances and exits at court. The Duchess was quoted as having said of Catherine, "If master admiral (Thomas Seymour) teach his wife no better