The Coronation Commission began its work a year before the festivities.

Its work resulted in Empress’s dress weighing over 10 kilograms and other luxuries intended to make all past ceremonies of that kind look pale. Early in the morning the courtiers gathered in the throne hall of the Kremlin Palace and joined the royal entourage in a procession to the Assumption Cathedral. The Tsar was upset – the great princes so diligently tucked his mantle that a diamond chain of the Order of Saint Andrew broke free and fell on the floor. This was considered a bad omen. After an anointment ceremony the royal couple dined together with guests in the Palace of the Facets, and special coronation tokens were distributed to the public gathering on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin. Everything went smoothly but Tsar’s premonitions were correct – another distribution of coronation gifts four days later ended with the infamous Khodynka Tragedy.