- Queen's Champion
The Honourable The Queen's Champion is an office held in grand
serjeanty by the owner of the Manor of Scrivelsby since 1066. He is alsoStandard Bearer of England .History
Origins
The office was originally granted to
Robert Marmyon , along with the castle and manor ofTamworth and theManor of Scrivelsby in 1066. From then until the nineteenth century the officer's role was to act as champion for the King at hiscoronation , in the unlikely event that someone challenged the new King's title to the throne. TheChampion was required to ride in fullarmour intoWestminster Hall during thecoronation banquet , escorted by theEarl Marshal and theLord High Constable , all in full dress, robes and coronets, and await the challenge to all comers. The King himself could not fight in single combat against anyone except an equal. This trial by combat remained purely ceremonial and had a central place in thecoronation banquet .By 1377 the male line of the Marmyons had died out, and in that year the office of King's Champion at the
coronation of King Richard II was fulfilled bySir John Dymoke, who had married Margaret Marmyon, the heiress of the Marmyon family, and so held the Manor of Scrivelsby. The claim by SirBaldwin de Freville , who then held theManor of Tamworth , was rejected.In later years, the
Garter King of Arms read out the challenge, and the Champion threw down the gauntlet at the entrance toWestminster Hall , then again in the middle of the Hall, and lastly at the foot of theThrone , each time repeating the challenge. Each time the gauntlet was recovered by Garter. The Champion was rewarded with a gilt, covered cup, the King orQueen Regnant having first drunk to the Champion from it.It is alleged that the challenge was actually accepted in 1689 by an old woman, supposedly a noted Jacobite swordsman in disguise, who challenged the Dymoke of the day to combat next day in Hyde Park. There is no evidence to support this claim. Equally, rumour reported that in 1764 a white lady's kid glove fluttered down into the Hall, supposedly from a Jacobite.
If the Champion fought, and won, he got as his fee the armour he wore, and the horse he rode (the second best in the Royal Mews), both of which were on loan.
Modern times
The words of the challenge varied over the years, but those used for King George IV were these:
"If any person, of whatever degree soever, high or low, shall deny or gainsay our Sovereign Lord George, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, son and next heir unto our Sovereign Lord the last King deceased, to be the right heir to the imperial Crown of this realm of Great Britain and Ireland, or that he ought not to enjoy the same; here is his Champion, who saith that he lieth, and is a false traitor, being ready in person to combat with him, and in this quarrel will adventure his life against him on what day soever he shall be appointed."
In 1831 no
coronation banquet was held, so the King's Champion was not called upon to act, although in 1902 his claim was admitted by the Court of Claims, and he was given theStandard of England to bear.Current Queen's Champion
The current and 34th
Lord of the Manor of Scrivelsby, 7th Lord of the Manor of Telford, and of the Manor of Scrivelsby, Thornton and Dadderby, patron of the living of Scrivelsby-cum-Dadderby, and Queen's Champion is Lieutenant-Colonel John Lindley Marmion Dymoke, MBEDL Royal Lincolnshire Regiment . He acted as Standard-Bearer of theUnion Flag at the coronation service of Her Majesty The Queen in 1953.His eldest son and heir is Francis Dymoke, a chartered accountant and estate owner.
Associated publications
*cite book
last = Lodge
first = The Rev. Samuel
year = 1893
title = Scrivelsby, The Home of the Champions.
location = Horncastle
publisher = W K Morton
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