--- title: "On this day: The Coronation of Esmond III" url: https://austenasia.org/2026/09/18/on-this-day-the-coronation-of-esmond-iii/ date: 2026-09-18 modified: 2026-09-08 lang: en author: "austenasiantimes" description: "On this day 16 years ago, Emperor Esmond III received a coronation at Wrythe amidst Independence Day celebrations. Picture the scene. It is 2010, a time of great change in..." categories: - "Uncategorized" word_count: 1104 --- # On this day: The Coronation of Esmond III On this day 16 years ago, Emperor Esmond III received a coronation at Wrythe amidst Independence Day celebrations. Picture the scene. It is 2010, a time of great change in the Empire, in what later become known as the Year of the Three Emperors. At the start of the year, Emperor Terry I abdicated, resulting in the unexpected ascension of Emperor Esmond III to the throne, of whom was in the line of succession in what was intended the be a ceremonial gesture. This lead to a succession crisis which erupted into the Austenasian Civil War, a conflict which saw countless international powers throwing their weight behind either Esmond III or the self-styled Empress Caroline, the pretender to the throne. Despite his unexpected rise to power, and a crash course from Crown Prince Jonathan, Esmond III emerged victorious in the Civil War, with Lt. Sir A. Hayes leading foreign volunteers to rout the Carolinians at the Second Battle of the Grove, and the signing of the Treaty of Ruskin Road ending the war and disbanding the Carolinian cause. ![](https://austenasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/EmperorEsmondcodexpic.png)Moylurgian codex depicting Emperor Esmond III signing Act 113, concerning the Abdication of Emperor Terry I Esmond III would emerge from this crisis as – at the time – the most powerful and influential Emperor that Austenasia has seen. The role of Emperor was steerer away from a British-style constitutional office, towards a more Roman-style autocratic role. With the office becoming the most powerful as it possibly could under the Constitution of 2008, the office enjoyed new boons such as immunity from prosecution, the removal of parliamentary authority to call votes of no confidence, and the bestowal of power to grant titles of Caesar and Augusta. Indeed, it was during the rein of Esmond III when Austenasia made a noticeable shift toward more-Roman/Byzantine features as is standard in the modern nation today. At the apex of his power, Esmond III, now styling himself as ‘Emperor of the West’, attained suzereinty over the newly established Carshalton nations, with both the Kingdom of Copan and the Kingdom of the Grove, which derived their legitimacy from the Emperor himself; the Midget Nation-in-exile likewise openly declared themselves as a vassal. The Imperial Court, formed from the remnants of the wartime Esmondian military headquarters, developed a notable court culture in what has been remarked by later historians as a ‘golden age’. It's safe to say that at this time, Esmond III was a hugely popular monarch with both the populace and the army.  ![](https://austenasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/figure-10-page-10.jpg)Emperor Esmond (right) and General Sir Joseph Goldie (left) near the Imperial Court, 2010 The cracks however had begun to show by the start of September of that year, with the new King of Copan rejecting the authority of Esmond, but it is arguable that the coronation marked the absolute peak of Esmond's reigns, and perhaps the last glimpse of a golden era. Although Esmond had initially not deemed a coronation necessary, with followers of the Emperor believing that he had unchallenged authority as a claimant to the Western Roman Empire, it is believed that the rejection of Imperial Authority by Copan triggered a desire to hold a coronation to reaffirm Imperial authority. On 18 September 2010, most likely intentionally selected as it was the second observance of Austenasia's Independence Day, Esmond III unexpectedly visited the Imperial Residence at Wrythe without warning accompanied by two Orlians. Esmond III was received by the Crown Prince Jonathan, Princess Caroline, and the Vicereine Margaret. After wishing the Wrythians a happy independence day, Esmond III accompanied the Crown Prince to the Prime Minister's office where the Imperial Regalia was unveiled, having been in storage since the Civil War. A spontaneous ceremony occurred, far less elaborate than the previous coronation of Emperor Terry I, with focus placed on the crowning of the Imperial Diadem as opposed to the ceremony itself. Notably, the Emperor would, unlike his predecessor, crown himself, appealing to the traditions of both Byzantine and Russian coronations. Whilst no photography or footage is known to exist of the impromptu affair, a contemporary statement from the Crown Prince details the ceremony. > "The Emperor took the Imperial Chain from its box and put it on around his neck. The Imperial Robes were carefully taken out of my wardrobe and presented to him, but the Monarch announced that he would use a paragraph of Act 108 to change what was designated as the Imperial Robes to the clothes he was already wearing, and I gave my consent to this. I held up the Imperial Diadem to crown him, but His Imperial Majesty took the Diadem from my hands and crowned himself Emperor of Austenasia, directly above the spot that the Declaration of Independence had been sent two years previously. Myself and the two others present gazed in reverent awe at the Western Augustus wearing his Imperial Diadem, after which he removed it, and placed his hands on the Imperial Sceptre. After this, he replaced the sceptre and returned the Imperial Chain to its box, and announced that the original Imperial Robes were redesignated as such." It can be said that the coronation marked the end of Esmond III's good fortune. In response to the rivalry with the Copanese King, Esmond III would begin to attempt to assert his authority in increasingly-bizarre ways, including sudden and illogical changes of seasons, demands of cake as tribute from the Imperial Court, the declaration of seemingly random public holidays, and the foundation of a denomination of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster that effectively served as a cult of personality. After a botched scheme to transform Austenasia as an explicitly-autocratic communist state, with Esmond at the helm as dictator, the War of the Orlian Reunification would break out. By the end of the conflict, Esmond III emerged significantly weakened, with the King of Copan – now joint-Emperor Declan I of Austenasia, eclipsing his authority, and eventually solely assuming the throne himself after Esmond was deposed a few months later. To this day, Esmond III remains 1 of only 3 Austenasian Emperors that have received an official coronation, the other two being Emperor Terry I and Emperor Jonathan I. Emperor Declan I never visited Austenasia, and was regarded to have considered the Empire little more than a vassal of the Kingdom of Wilcsland. Emperor Aggelos I never received a coronation within the regency or his reign, likely owing to logistical issues with reaching Wrythe from the Region of Illyricum. Emperor Alexander VI has yet to receive a coronation, but has expressed his wish to visit Wrythe to hold the ceremony, a wish supported by the House of Austen.