Britain's historic coronation throne gets a revamp

STORY: Location: Westminster Abbey, London

Britain's coronation throne is getting a revamp ahead of King Charles' crowning

Monarchs have been crowned on this historic chair for 700 years

such as King Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and Charles’ own mother Elizabeth II

[Krista Blessley, Paintings Conservator / Westminster Abbey]

"It is the oldest surviving piece of furniture still used for its original purpose, so it's incredibly rare."

The throne was made on the orders of King Edward I to include the ‘Stone of Destiny’

which had been used for the coronation of Scottish kings for centuries

"So in 1296, Edward I commissioned the chair to be made to contain the Stone of Scone which had been brought down from Scotland and it's been used for every coronation of an English monarch with a few exceptions since then."

The oak chair was originally covered in gold leaf gilding and decorated with colored glass

Over the years the chair has suffered from wear and tear

"The coronation chair is extremely fragile, it has a complex layer structure which means that the gilding layers on it often flake off, so a lot of my work at the moment is sticking those layers of gilding back down and making sure it's completely sound before the coronation."

Charles and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, will be formally crowned on May 6 in a solemn religious ceremony