The Prince and the Pauper: Chapter 32 Summary & Analysis

Starting at about four a.m., people who can afford or are entitled to seats in Westminster Abbey for the coronation flock in. Peeresses—some so old they recall King Richard III’s coronation and others who are very young and inexperienced—are led to their seats where they will wait for hours before they can place their coronets on their heads at the same time as the new king. All the women are wearing jewels, so as the sunlight enters the room and hits them, it looks like there are numerous fires of different colors. After several hours, the booming of artillery indicates that the king has arrived. There is a delay during which the peers take their places and the king is robed for the ceremony. Finally, Tom enters dressed in the coronation robe, and the ceremony begins.

As the ceremony proceeds, Tom becomes more and more uncomfortable and experiences a growing dread. Just at the moment when the Archbishop of Canterbury lifts the crown over Tom’s head and the nobility stand up and hold their coronets over their heads, a boy in filthy clothes walks up the aisle and declares that the ceremony can’t go on because he’s the real king. Just as guards descend on Edward, Tom stands up and forbids them to touch him because Edward is the real king. Astonishment sweeps through the room, but Somerset tells everyone to ignore this assertion because the king is just experiencing a recurrence of his illness. Somerset orders the guards to grab the boy, but Tom stamps his foot and tells them not to do it. Edward steps up to the platform and Tom drops to his knee and swears fealty to Edward.

Somerset shoots Edward a stern look, but suddenly his anger transforms into wonder. Others who are nearby comment on the extraordinary resemblance between the prince (Tom) and the pauper (Edward). Somerset asks Edward some questions about the royal family, all of which Edward readily answers. Somerset says this is more than the king (Tom) can do, but he doesn’t think it’s strong enough proof. Somerset says that this could divide the entire nation; he starts to order a guard to arrest Edward but he stops short. Somerset’s eyes light up and he says he knows a question only the real Prince of Wales can answer: where is the Great Seal that Henry gave Edward to hide? Everyone approves of this question and they agree that only the real Edward can answer it. Edward tells St. John that it’s in a hidden compartment in his room and how to open it.

On Tom’s orders, St. John runs to the palace to find the compartment and solve the mystery. While they wait, the people on the platform gradually gravitate toward Edward, leaving Tom standing alone. St. John comes running back in, and the people hold their breath while they wait for his answer. St. John bows to Tom and he says the seal is not in the compartment Edward described. The group that surrounded Edward hurries back over to Tom, and Somerset calls for the beggar to be arrested. Tom again forbids this, and Somerset asks St. John if his search was thorough, although it must be hard to miss a large golden disk. Tom interrupts and says he knows where something matching that description is, but that he isn’t the one who hid it. Somerset asks who hid it and Tom points to Edward, calling him the real King of England.

Tom turns to Edward and he tells him to think about the last thing he did before running out of the palace the day they met. Edward thinks hard for a few moments and he says that while he remembers their meeting, he can’t remember what place the seal has in the memory. Tom says he can help and he starts recounting how they met, the conversation they had, the food he ate, and how they swapped clothes. Tom reminds Edward how he prepared to rush out to yell at the guard who hurt Tom’s hand and that as he passed the seal on the table, he picked it up and put it somewhere. Edward’s face lights up and he tells St. John to go look in the arm of a suit of armor in the room. Tom cries out that Edward is right and he tells St. John to hurry.

The whole room buzzes with confused conversations and shouting until St. John returns with the seal in hand. Everyone begins shouting praises for the real king and waving their handkerchiefs in a show of happiness and support. Tom excitedly asks Edward to take the fine clothes back so that Tom can have his rags again. Somerset calls for Tom to be arrested, but Edward forbids it and reminds him that it was Tom who gave Somerset a ducal title—an action that Edward can repeal unless Tom can convince him that Somerset deserves it. At this, Somerset takes a step back. Edward turns to Tom and asks how he knew where the seal was but not what it was. Tom explains that nobody told him what the seal looked like and so he’s been using it to crack nuts. Edward is then covered in the coronation robe, and the ceremony proceeds.