City of London swords City of London swords The City of London swords are five two-handed ceremonial swords owned by the City of London, namely the Mourning (or Black) Sword, the Pearl Sword, the State (or Sunday) Sword, the Old Bailey Sword and the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. A sixth sword, the Travelling Sword of State, replaces the Sword of State for visits outside the City. They are part of the plate collection of Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. The Mourning Sword is used on occasions of ceremonial mourning and has also been known as the Black
São Bento Mansion regime expropriates the mansion so that it would become the official residence of the President of the Council of Ministers (then the official title of the Prime Minister). After the necessary fitting-out works, António de Oliveira Salazar moves to the mansion in May 1938, even though the formal unveiling only takes place eleven months later, in April 1939. During the works, a monumental staircase connecting the grounds of the mansion to the Parliament gardens was commissioned to architect Cristino da Silva. When Marcelo Caetano became Prime Minister in 1968, the mansion saw major renovations: little more than the façades were