Groom of the Robes explained

Groom of the Robes is an office in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of England (later Great Britain, ultimately the United Kingdom). In 1953, the Groom of the Robes to Elizabeth II had the task of bringing forward the robes and other items of ceremonial clothing worn by the monarch at various points in the coronation service, ready to hand them over to the Mistress of the Robes and the Lord Great Chamberlain (who assisted The Queen in putting them on) and to receive and remove those which were no longer required.

The post was in abeyance after 1954, although an Equerry was usually designated 'Acting Groom of the Robes' on occasions (such as the State Opening of Parliament) when robes are worn. It returned to active use for the Coronation of Charles III in 2023 when Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson was appointed.

List of Grooms of the Robes

(incomplete)

• Thomas Purcell^[1]
• Piers Curteys
• John Hart

Henry VIII

• Richard Cecil 1530 ^[2]
• John Copinger^[3]
• William Sharington 1540–1541^[4]
• Thomas Sternhold 1500–1549 ^{[5] [6] [7]}
• Gates, Sir John^[8]

Edward VI

• Robert Robotham

Victoria

• Francis Seymour 1837–1870 ^[9]
• Henry Erskine 1870–1901

Edward VII

• Henry Erskine 1901–1910

George V

• Henry Erskine 1910–1920
• Montague Eliot 1920–1936

George VI

• Sir Harold Campbell 1937–1952

Elizabeth II

• Sir Harold Campbell 1952–1954

Charles III

• Lt Col Jonathan Thompson 2023–present^[10]

See also

• Groom of the Stool

Notes and References

1. Book: Holman, Peter . Henry Purcell . Oxford University Press . 1994 . registration . Thomas Purcell groom of the robes. . 0-19-816341-X . 4.
2. Book: Chalmers F.S.A., Alexander . The General Biographical Dictionary . 1812–1817 .
3. Web site: John Copynger . 2008-03-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080513190128/http://www.copinger.org.uk/4John10.html . 2008-05-13 .
4. C. E. Challis, 'Sharington, Sir William (c. 1495–1553), administrator and embezzler', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004
5. Book: Kaufman, Charles H. . Music in New Jersey, 1655–1860 . Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press . 1981 . 0-8386-2270-4. 46.
6. letters and papers foreign and domestic of the reign of King Henry VIII
7. Narasingha, Prosad,Sil 2001
8. Tudor Placement And Statesman, select case studies page 71 18 February 1537 mentions Sir John as a Page
9. Domestic Occurrences . The Gentleman's Magazine . 308 . March 1840 . Francis Seymour groom of the robes. . F. Jefferies . .
10. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65503950 "Coronation order of service in full"