King Charles III returns to Highgrove after Queen's procession

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The anointing of a monarch is regarded as the most sacred part of the coronation – the only part which is shielded from public view, and which was not televised when the late Queen Elizabeth officially took the crown in 1953. During that section of the ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury daubs the head of the monarch with special oil, of a secret recipe that has remained the same across reigns.

It is intended to mark their appointment as a religious and spiritual leader for the nation, as well as the head of the Church of England.

But where that oil comes from, before being consecrated, is an establishment with a different kind of cross on its frontage.

John Bell and Croyden, the Queen’s pharmacy in London, holds the two samples of the oil “under lock and key” at their Marylebone premises.

It said it had “contacted the palace and are awaiting further instructions” on the use of the oil in King Charles’ coronation.

The current batch of oil was formulated using the same recipe as that which crowned King Charles I in 1626, after the oil used for her father King George VI was destroyed in the Blitz.

Several bottles have been made up in the centuries between for various historical reasons, but the use of oil in anointing monarchs in the UK is believed to date back to 973, to the time of King Edgar.

In a recent BBC documentary, a vial of oil – kept in an Guerlain Mitsouko perfume box – from the Queen’s coronation was shown by the Dean of Westminster. The label says it was copied in 1952 by Squire and Sons of New Bond Street.

Squire and Sons was established by Peter Squire, who was made chemist by appointment of Queen Victoria. The shop then passed to his son, Sir Peter Wyatt Squire, who became chemist to the royal family under King Edward.

A note shown with the 1952 vial revealed that the oil “which was used at the coronation of King Edward was prepared by the late Sir P W Squire, the Chemist on the establishment of the King, and uses presented by him to Westminster Abbey.

“The composition of the oil was founded upon that need in the seventeenth century,” it added.

A spokesperson for John Bell and Croyden explained that a sufficient amount of oil would have remained from King George’s coronation for Elizabeth’s own, were it not destroyed while being kept in the deanery of Westminster Abbey in May 1941.

To make matters worse, Squire and Sons had “gone out of business”, later to be bought out. But luckily, an old, retired employee kept some as a souvenir, they said.

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The formula used to anoint Elizabeth II was prepared by the Surgeon Apothecary at the time, and two bottles are “safely stored” beneath John Bell & Croyden’s pharmacy awaiting the next coronation.

The current recipe dates from the first Caroline era, and is heavy in rich scents and expensive spices from the far reaches of the empire at the time.

Though the exact preparation is said to be a well-kept secret, the note says that the 1952 oil “consists of a mixture of sesame and olive oil, perfumed with roses, orange flowers, jasmine, cinnamon, flowers of benzoin, musk, civet and ambergris”.

After the destruction in the bombing of London, the pharmacy is trusted to keep a store of it, even though the historical responsibility lies with the deanery of Westminster.

Wesley Carr, a historian, wrote in a 2002 paper that the Dean of Westminster “is entrusted the safe keeping of the oil and its provision”. Its recipe is “known only to the Dean and the Royal Apothecary”.

In the 2018 documentary, the then-Dean of Westminster, Dr John Hall, said: “It is kept very safe in the deanery, in a very hidden place in a little box here, which has in it a flask containing the oil from 1953.”

Sir Peter Squire died in 1919, and his chemists was bought up by Savary & Co in 1950 – the same company that had bought John Bell and Croyden a few decades earlier. After some takeovers, it is now part of LloydsPharmacy.

John Bell and Croyden held the royal warrant as pharmacist to Queen Elizabeth for 60 years, after it was originally granted in 1909 for King George. It also held the royal warrant for the Queen Mother until her death in 2002.

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