What was the Queen’s coronation like?

As we approach the 65th anniversary of the
1953 ceremony, The Week looks back on the lavish event

Daily Briefing

Since taking the throne at the age of 25, the Queen has
since become the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch in
British history.

Coronations have been held at Westminster Abbey since 1066, but
the coronation of 1953 broke new ground, as it was the first ever
to be televised.

Planning

The Coronation Commission, chaired by Prince Philip, opted
for a full-blown coronation ceremony “despite the country
being in the grip of post-war austerity”, The Guardian says.

However, the commission initially ruled that the lavish ceremony
would not be televised. Following internal and public pressure, the
organisers relented and allowed cameras in to the ceremony, on
condition that there were “no close-ups” of the Queen, who disliked
being filmed, Radio Times says.

What happened on the day?

TV cameras notwithstanding, the coronation was highly
traditional.

The Daily Telegraph writes that the Queen “saw
little need to change the pattern of the ceremonies held by her
father and grandfather”, noting that coronations have “remained
remarkably consistent since King Edgar was crowned in Bath in
973”.

In fact, “the abbey stage for the Queen’s coronation was
modelled on that used in Queen Elizabeth I’s [and] officials
consulted the abbey’s Liber Regalis with its 14th-century order of
service,” the newspaper adds.

At 11.15am, the Queen processed through the west door of the
abbey with a 250-strong procession while verses from Psalm 122 were
sung.

Made of white satin and embroidered with the emblems of the UK
and Commonwealth in gold and silver thread, the Queen’s Norman
Hartnell-designed dress is “regarded as one of the most
important examples of twentieth-century design”, according to the
Royal Collection. 

The crown placed on the new queen’s head was made for
George VI’s coronation in 1937 and is set with 2,868 diamonds, 17
sapphires, 11 emeralds, hundreds of pearls and a gemstone known as
the Black Prince’s Ruby – believed to have been worn by Henry V at
the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Who was at the coronation?

The procession entering the church included church leaders,
Commonwealth heads, military leaders and the Yeomen of the Guard.
Also in attendance was Prime Minister Winston Churchill, along with
members of the Queen’s family, foreign royalty, peers and MPs from
around the Commonwealth. In all, around 8,000 people were invited
to the ceremony.

How did journalists describe it?

“Despite the rain, defying the rain, singing in the rain, the
People surged into London all day yesterday and equably sat or lay
down in its streets,” wrote reporter R.M. MacColl for the Daily Express.

The Guardian’s Harry Boardman wondered whether
the ceremony could ever be matched in its “splendour, opulent
colour, or historic symbolism”.

The Christan Science Monitor said the ceremony, for
all its formality, was also memorable for “one touch of humanity
that made all its witnesses kin as the Duke of Edinburgh kissed the
cheek of his wife the Queen when pledging fealty to Her Majesty
after the enthroning”.

How will Charles’ compare?

Calls have already been made to bring down the cost and to
secularise the ceremony when Prince Charles ascends to the
throne.

In 2006, it was revealed that there will be a
multifaith presence at Prince Charles’s coronation,
but University College London’s Constitution Unit has gone
further, claiming the future king should have a shorter coronation
with an “oath to the people” rather than the traditional promises
to uphold Christianity, the Daily Express writes.