 Roger got drawn into the controversy with Becket because Henry II wanted to have his eldest living son crowned as king during Henry 's lifetime . ( Traditionally , the ceremony is performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury ) This was a new practice for England , but was a custom of the Capetian kings of France , which Henry decided to imitate . Henry II insisted that his son , Henry be crowned at Westminster Abbey on 14 June 1170 by Archbishop Roger of York . Also present at the coronation were the bishops of London , Salisbury , Exeter , Chester , Rochester , St Aspah , Llandaff , Durham , Bayeux , Évreux and Sées . The only English bishops absent seem to have been Winchester , Norwich , Worcester , and of course Thomas Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury , who was in exile . The remaining English sees were vacant . This overstepped a long tradition which reserved coronations to the Archbishop of Canterbury , a reservation confirmed as recently as 1166 by Pope Alexander III . In 1170 , however , Henry II received papal permission to have Roger crown the younger Henry , a permission which Alexander later revoked . 
