a mantle of royal purple, crowned with a diadem of gold

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'On the long, slow journey across northern France [King Henry V] was represented by a lifelike effigy made of boiled leather, clothed in a mantle of royal purple, crowned with a diadem of gold and precious stones, holding the royal sceptre in one hand and the golden cross and ball in the other. This effigy was laid on a bed on the top of the chariot carrying the coffin and was sufficiently raised to make the royal figure easily visible to all the onlookers. The illusion of a living king's formal entry was re-enacted at each town on the slow journey to Rouen and north to Calais. . . .'

'Margaret Wade Labarge, Medieval Travellers: The Rich and Restless, 1982.

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