page_title: City of London swords
section_title: Pearl Sword
hierarchical_section_title: City of London swords / Pearl Sword
caption_attribution_description: English: The title is the same as the image caption above and in "Cassell's Illustrated History of England, Volume 5". The number shown is the page number. Follow image link to the full book vol.5.
context_page_description: The City of London swords are five two-handed ceremonial swords owned by the City of London, namely the Mourning Sword, the Pearl Sword, the State Sword, the Old Bailey Sword and the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. A sixth sword, the Travelling Sword of State, replaces the Sword of State for visits outside the City. They are part of the plate collection of Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.
context_section_description: According to tradition, the Pearl Sword was presented to the City of London Corporation by Elizabeth I of England in 1571 on the occasion of the opening of the Royal Exchange. There are approximately 2,500 pearls on the sword's scabbard, from which it gets its name. In his footnote to the Diary of Samuel Pepys, Wheatley quotes Hope as saying that it is a "fine sword said to have been given to the city by Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of the opening of the Royal Exchange in 1570." but continues: "There is, however, no mention of such a gift in the City records, neither do Stow nor other old writers notice it. The sword is certainly of sixteenth century date, and is very possibly that bought in 1554, if it be not that "verye goodly sworde" given by Sir Ralph Warren in 1545."
  Its blade is 3 ft (0.91 m) long and 1 ³⁄₄ in (4.4 cm) wide, and it has a 10 ³⁄₄ in (27 cm) hilt. It weighs 4 lb 6 ³⁄₄ oz (2.01 kg) without the scabbard. The first 20 ¹⁄₂ in (52 cm) of the blade have been blued and etched with images of fruit, trophies of arms, a quiver of arrows, the city arms and a ship at sail. Its scabbard dates back to at least 1808.
  When the Queen comes to the City in State, she is ceremonially welcomed at the boundary with Westminster, where Temple Bar used to be, by the Lord Mayor of London, who offers her the hilt of the Pearl Sword to touch. Before 1641, the monarch would take the sword for the duration of their visit, but in 1641 Charles I was offered it and immediately returned it to the Lord Mayor, a practice that was then carried on. The ceremony as a whole dates back to 1215 and the Royal Charter allowing direct election of the mayor (now the Lord Mayor). A similar ceremonial surrendering of the local Sword of State (a sword granted by royal gift or authorised by royal charter) is performed on royal visits to certain other cities, including York.
  At the coronation of George III on 22 September 1761, the royal Sword of State was forgotten and instead Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon, carried the Lord Mayor's Pearl Sword for the ceremony.
  Queen Elizabeth II planned to hit Idi Amin over the head with the Pearl Sword if he attended her Silver Jubilee in 1977, according to Lord Mountbatten's diary at the time. In 2012 the ceremonial surrender of the Pearl Sword was carried out during her Diamond Jubilee. In 2016 the Pearl Sword was carried by Lord Mayor Jeffrey Mountevans to lead the Queen into St Paul's Cathedral for a service in honour of her official 90th birthday.
caption: King George III receiving the Civic (Pearl) Sword from the Lord Mayor of London on his way to St. Paul's Cathedral[6]
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