The cathedral and the Old and New Minsters have long been a focus for important royal events, particularly in the Middle Ages. As the centre of royal power, it was the natural location for coronations and royal burials. Even after Westminster supplanted Winchester as the capital of England, monarchs still came here for second coronations and a number of weddings were celebrated here. Two of these weddings, Joan of Navarre’s wedding to Henry IV in 1403 and Mary Tudor’s wedding to Philip of Spain
in 1554, brought sizable retinues of important foreign visitors to join in the celebrations
