As with the preparation of volume 2 of this edition, so with this volume: further research has revealed more material and important related matters, and resulted in a number of adjustments.

First, new evidence has again revealed further special occasions of national worship in addition to those listed in the ‘Analytical list of particular occasions of special worship’ for the whole period of the edition, which was printed in volume 1, pp. cxi–clvii. A number of occasions given in this list have also been found to have had a different scope to that originally noted. These changes have necessitated some re-coding of occasions. A list of ‘Additions and corrections’ to the Analytical list is given below on pp. xix–xxii.

Second, the history of special prayers since 1871 is more complex than for the periods of the earlier volumes, with the result that the Introduction and the commentaries are more wide ranging. This history involves new types of occasion to mark royal events (as is indicated in the volume title); changes in the relationship between the state and the churches; co-ordination between leaders of the established churches and those of other churches and religious communities, notably for national days of prayer; transformations in communication, with broadcasting and the internet; more frequent and widespread observance of British occasions in the overseas empire and commonwealth; and the churches’ reactions to declines in attendance at public worship and in popular belief in God. The very definition of special worship became more fluid, requiring the use of a criteria of selection between ‘national’ and ‘church’ occasions; some of these issues are considered in Appendices on ‘church prayers’ and ‘Special Sundays’.

Third, the material for the texts and the commentaries for the anniversary commemorations – both for those originating in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and for Remembrance day within the period of this third volume – is so substantial that it has been decided to include these occasions in a further volume. This fourth volume also has the Appendices, which provide additional information covering the whole period of the edition, and the indices for the whole edition.

The preparation of this edition received assistance from a large number of individuals and institutions. Many are listed in the Preface to volume 1.