The Coronation Stage will remain on display in Westminster Abbey for a week

The raised stage where the coronation took place inside Westminster Abbey is on display for the rest of this week, if you want to get up close to the yellow dais in person.

Something that’s maybe harder to fully appreciate from photos is just how vibrantly yellow the carpet on the coronation stage is. It almost glows, especially when set inside a building, that for all the decoration of the altar is very much made of grey stone.

You can see the two main thrones facing the main altar, and there, on the famous 13th-century Cosmati pavement, is the Coronation Throne itself, also facing the altar. Look closely, and you’ll spy the Scottish stone still there in the base of the coronation throne.

What’s less noticeable from having watched it on the telly is that there’s a long ramp within the choir leading up to the Coronation theatre, so no steps up.

Something you can see on the far side from the entrance is that the tourist sign saying that they are standing where coronations take place and that they can see the Throne at the end of the tour — is still there, when in fact you’re looking at the throne right now. Yes, it’s a glitch, but it’s a fun one and reminds us in a way that the coronation has only just taken place and they haven’t had time to swap over the signs.

There’s also on display a couple of the chairs that were specially made for the dignitaries to sit on. After the last Coronation, the chairs were offered to the sitters to buy as commemorative mementoes, so it’s presumed that will happen this time. As it happens, not all the chairs were bought last time, and the leftovers were sold to the public, so keep an eye out if any of this years are left unsold. So you never know, you might get to own a pretty unique piece of coronation history.

It certainly beats a National Trust teatowel.

At the end of the visit, just before you leave via the main West Doors, to the left is St George’s Chapel, the glass box where the Coronation Throne is usually on display when not in use. At the moment, it’s hosting the three panels of the Anointing Screen that were brought out to the sounds of Handel’s Zadok the Priest.  A sign explains that the tree contains the symbols of the commonwealth nations and was designed by Aiden Hart.

Although some parts of the Abbey is closed, and they’re not offering the usual multimedia guides, it’s a pretty unique time to pay a visit to see the Coronation Theatre, as who knows when there will be another one.

I’m told it will remain on display until this Friday.

You need to book tickets in advance from here.

Entry is £27 per adult (one child is free, and extra children are £12 each).

A recommendation though – if you want to go back when the abbey reopens fully – is to join the Abbey Association, which costs £40 per year and gets you unlimited visits to the Abbey. It’s not possible to join the Association in time to get your entry pass for the Coronation Theatre visits, but you can upgrade afterwards by phoning them, and they deduct the entry price from the annual fee.

Yes, photography is allowed in the Abbey.