King's Champion

Ceremonial officer in the United Kingdom

The Honourable The King's (or Queen's) Champion is an honorary and hereditary office in the Royal Household of the British sovereign. The champion's original role at the coronation of a British monarch was to challenge anyone who contested the new monarch's entitlement to the throne to trial by combat. Although this function was last enacted at the coronation of George IV in 1821, the office continues to descend through the Dymoke family. The feudal holder of the Manor of Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire, England, has, since the Norman Conquest in 1066, held the manor from the Crown by grand serjeanty of being the King's or Queen's Champion. Such person is also the Standard Bearer of England. The current King's Champion is a member of the Dymoke family, which has included many Champions. The 35th Champion was the 34th Lord of the manor of Scrivelsby, Thornton and Dalderby and patron of the living of Scrivelsby cum Dalderby, Francis John Fane Marmion Dymoke (b. 19 January 1955, d. December 2023), a farmer and former chartered accountant. He gained the title of King's Champion at the coronation of Charles III, where he carried the Royal Standard in the coronation procession. He served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1999. His eldest son and heir apparent is Henry Francis Marmion Dymoke (born 1984).

The office of King's Champion was originally granted to Robert Marmion, 1st Baron Marmion, along with the castle and Manor of Tamworth and the Manor of Scrivelsby in the time of William the Conqueror. From then until the nineteenth century the officer's role was to act as champion for the monarch at his or her coronation, in the unlikely event that someone challenged the new monarch's title to the throne. The Champion was required to ride in full armour into Westminster Hall during the coronation banquet, escorted by the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Constable, all in full dress, robes and coronets, and await the challenge to all comers. The king could not fight in single combat against anyone except an equal. This trial by combat remained purely ceremonial and had a central place in the coronation banquet. By 1377 the senior male line of the Marmions had died out, and in that year the office of King's Champion at the coronation of King Richard II was fulfilled by Sir John Dymoke, who had married Margaret Ludlow, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Ludlow and Johanna Marmion, daughter of Sir Philip Marmion (d.1291). Margaret was the heiress of the senior branch of the Marmion family, and so held the Manor of Scrivelsby. The claim by Sir Baldwin de Freville, who then held the Manor of Tamworth, was rejected. In later years, the Garter King of Arms read out the challenge, and the Champion threw down the gauntlet at the entrance to Westminster Hall, then again in the middle of the Hall, and lastly at the foot of the Throne, each time repeating the challenge. Each time the gauntlet was recovered by Garter. The Champion was rewarded with a gilt covered cup, the monarch having first drunk to the Champion from it. John II Walshe (d.1546/7) of Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire, was King's Champion at the coronation of Henry VIII in 1509 and was a great favourite of the young king.

+NameYear(s)NotesRef. Sir John Dymoke1377Champion at the coronation of Richard II. Recognised as champion by right of his marriage to his wife Margery. Sir Thomas Dymoke1399, 1413Champion at the coronations of Henry IV and Henry VSir Philip Dymoke1429Champion at the coronation of Henry VILewis Dymoke1714, 1727Champion at the coronations of George I and George IIJohn Dymoke1761Champion at the coronation of George IIIFrancis Dymoke, 35th of Scrivelsby (1955–2023)2023Champion at the coronation of Charles III; son of John