Schools across the UK have been on the edge of their seats waiting for the winners of the national Coronation Benches competition to be announced. Today, Historic Royal Palaces can reveal that fifteen winners have been selected from over 1,500 fantastic entries, to be developed with global public art producers Wild in Art and installed at the Tower of London during the Coronation celebrations.

Children and young people from across the country have designed their own illustrated Coronation benches, exploring their hopes for the future during the reign of His Majesty King Charles III. This national competition to celebrate the Coronation has seen participating schoolchildren create designs inspired by their values and symbols that they wish to define the new era.

The winning designs share some insight into what matters to children and young people today, with themes ranging from unity and peace, to resilience and care for the environment. A number of designs reference the symbolic flowers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, animals and insects, and words that are important to young people, such as “community”, “friendship” and “courage”.

Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) – the independent charity that cares for the Tower of London – has developed a collection of teaching resources to support all schools across the country as they mark this historic moment in the classroom. Pupils have the opportunity to explore the Coronation as a moment of transition and discover the symbolism of objects traditionally used in the ceremony, including the Crown Jewels. Many of the winning bench designs have been inspired by the use of these resources in the classroom, and feature drawings of the Coronation regalia and other symbols of monarchy.

The benches will go on display at the Tower of London, the home of the Crown Jewels and a site that has seen many Coronations in its long history. At the heart of the collection are the Coronation Regalia: the sacred objects used during the Coronation ceremony to represent the powers and responsibilities of the monarch.

The winning schools will also enjoy a VIP class trip to visit the Tower of London and see their benches in situ after they have been installed during the first week of May. The benches will remain at the Tower throughout the Coronation celebrations for everyone to enjoy before being gifted back to the schools as a permanent reminder of this historic year. The winning school from Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to see their bench on display at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, the official royal residence in Northern Ireland.

The winning benches were selected by a panel of judges at the Tower of London, including representatives from Historic Royal Palaces, Kids in Museums, Young V&A and the Group for Education in Museums.

Ceri Fox, Senior Learning Producer at Historic Royal Palaces, said:

“It was fantastic to have such an overwhelming response from schools to our national competition, and to see so many thoughtful and imaginative designs. Selecting just fifteen winners from so many great submissions was tough, and we are looking forward to welcoming the students and their benches to the Tower of London this summer.”

Caroline Marcus, Chair of the Group for Education in Museums (GEM), said:

“It is wonderful to see young people given such an opportunity to contribute their voices to a significant moment in history, conveying their hopes for this new era at the Tower of London and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. The high quality of work submitted from children and young people across the UK made it a very difficult decision for the judges. I hope that when the winning schools visit this summer they feel incredibly proud to see their values represented at these famous landmarks.”