On the 25th July 1554, Queen Mary I married Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral. From eyewitness accounts, we know the Cathedral was beautifully adorned and “well hung with many sumptuous cloths of brocade and crimson and of dark colours, and was full of banners and standards” - an impressive display fit for a royal wedding.

Banners and robes, glittering jewels and objects of ceremony, almost nothing of this spectacular event survives today, beyond the words of those who were present.

This makes the survival of a very special and much-loved blue velvet chair – known as “the Queen Mary chair” – all the more remarkable.

The chair, believed to have been used by Mary during her marriage ceremony, has been held in the Cathedral’s collections for at least several hundred years. The earliest reference to a chair matching the right description can be found in a Cathedral inventory from 1633, a “blew velvet [chair] in ye Lady Chapel”. The association with Mary emerged a few years afterwards.

Yet scholars in the 20th century disagreed with one another over the history and origin of the chair. Significant physical alterations were also made during this period, making it more difficult to study the composition and materials of the original.

Nevertheless, enough has survived intact to now enable a fresh study of the chair, supported by modern conservation techniques and digital technology. We are very pleased that, thanks to the generous funding of the Idlewild Trust, Aurelius Trust and Leche Trust, such a study and careful conservation to clean and stabilise the condition of the chair will be possible from autumn 2024.

As part of the project, surface cleaning of the surviving blue velvet and the consolidation of loose or fraying fragments to prevent further deterioration will be undertaken by a professional conservator. Accompanied by specialist research, the work will open up new and exciting insights into the chair, which we look forward to sharing in due course.