The music of George Frederick Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” has been used for every British coronation since 1727. Handel’s text, inspired by 1 Kings 1:38–50, describes the anointing of Solomon as king.

On February 6, 1952, Queen Elizabeth II became queen, and June 2 of this year will be the sixty-sixth anniversary of her coronation as the longest reigning sovereign in British history.

In her speeches over the years, especially her annual televised Christmas message, she references Bible stories and passages from the epistles of Paul, the prophecies of Isaiah, and the gospels. In her 2015 Christmas message, Queen Elizabeth quoted from the Gospel of John.

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