Islanders presented with King's Coronation Medal

Sunday 30 June 2024

A number of islanders were recently awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of delivering community celebrations to mark his ascension to the throne in May last year.

The medals were awarded at a ceremony hosted by Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq in the Old Library of the Royal Court.

Recipients included members of Jersey's living history group, the 1781 Militia, which portrays 18th Century military life based on the 1781 Jersey 4th Regiment Militia that took part in the Battle of Jersey on 6 January 1781.

Led by Battery Commander Terry Underwood, they fired a 21 gun salute using the Duke of Edinburgh Battery cannon on 7 May 2023.

Other local recipients included individuals who were directly involved in delivering the Coronation events, as well as members of the Bailiff’s Chambers Crowning Glory schools outreach programme which saw 8,000 children make a crown to commemorate the celebrations.

Pictured: Some of the recipients of the Coronation Medal from Jersey's 1781 Militia. (Max Burnett)

Those who received the medal in Jersey are some of 400,000 individuals across the British Isles who made a special contribution to the crowing of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Only 20,000 of those were for people outside of the uniformed services.

In a speech given to medal recipients and their families, Sir Timothy Le Cocq said: “For the Coronation, over 400,000 medals are to be issued to His Majesty’s Armed Forces, the blue light organisations, border agencies, lifeboats and some third sector organisations including our own Honorary Police Service in Jersey.

"All of these people serve to keep our community safe and therefore it is appropriate they are recognised, as we have with jubilee anniversaries of the past."

The Jersey 1781 Militia will also mark the arrival of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their visit to the island on Monday 15 July.