History of the British national debt History of the British national debt The history of the British national debt can be traced back to the reign of William III, who engaged a syndicate of City traders and merchants to offer for sale an issue of government debt, which evolved into the Bank of England. In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British government debt reached a peak of £1 billion (that was more than 200% of GDP). At the beginning of the 20th century the national debt had been gradually reduced to around 30 percent of GDP. However, during World War I the British
Coronation of the British monarch either the first meeting of the parliament after a new monarch's accession (i.e. during the State Opening of Parliament) or at his or her coronation. The monarch additionally swears a separate oath to preserve Presbyterian church government in the Church of Scotland and this oath is taken before the coronation. Once the taking of the oath concludes, an ecclesiastic presents a Bible to the sovereign, saying "Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God." The Bible used is a full King James Bible, including the Apocrypha. At Elizabeth II's coronation, the Bible was