The coronation ceremony of Charles III of the United Kingdom, at least in forecasts, will be more sober and shorter than the one in which his mother, Elizabeth II, was crowned almost seventy years ago. It will always be held in Westminster Abbey in London, it will be one of the most followed events in the recent history of the United Kingdom and, as in the case of Elizabeth’s coronation, it will take place according to a series of solemn rites: the ceremony of 2 June 1953, however, was in many ways unique, both for the exceptional following it had and for the times in which it took place.
Queen Elizabeth II sitting on throne during coronation (AP Photo)
Elizabeth became queen on February 6, 1952, the day her father, King George VI, died. She was 25 years old. She was crowned more than a year later to allow enough time for the late king to mourn, as was the custom of the British monarchy. On June 1, 1953, the evening before her coronation, she issued a radio message to the nation and the realms of the Commonwealth (the countries that had been part of the British Empire and of which the queen was head of state) to swear allegiance to the population «for all the [sua] life, with all the [suo] Heart”.
The following day, Elizabeth’s coronation ceremony was the first in history to be filmed and broadcast live on television by the BBC: it was by the will of the queen and most likely at the encouragement of Prince Philip, her husband, the first person to pay homage and swear allegiance to her after her investiture. It is estimated that in the United Kingdom the ceremony was seen on TV by 27 million people out of a total population which was then around 36; another 11 million followed her on the radio. Beyond the TV, the event had enormous international media attention: to follow it they had presented themselves in London more than 2 thousand journalists and 500 photographers from 92 different countries.
Coronation day began with a procession from the royal residence of Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, where the ceremony was performed. Elizabeth arrived at the church together with Prince Philip aboard the Gold State Coachthe golden carriage of the British royal family, drawn by eight gray horses and flanked by a procession of about 250 people including clergymen, representatives of Commonwealth countries, members of the royal family and military officers.
The queen wore a suit embroidered made by the British designer Norman Hartnell, a velvet cloak about seven meters long with decorations that took over 3,500 hours of work to make and a diamond tiara from 1820. She also had with her a bouquet of only white flowers: lily of the valley collected in England, jasmines from Scotland, orchids from Wales and carnations taken in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, to symbolize all the nations that make up the United Kingdom .
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The ceremony began at 11.15 am and was celebrated by Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest official of the Anglican Church after the British sovereign, who also holds the position of head of the Church. It took place in front of 8,251 guests and lasted nearly three hours. Prince Charles, who was then 4 years old, also attended the ceremony, but not Princess Anna, Elizabeth’s second child, who had not yet turned two.
(AP Photo, File)
For much of the ceremony, Elizabeth sat on a massive wooden throne built more than 600 years earlier. The so-called “stone of Scone” was set in the throne, the same one on which Charles will sit, used for every coronation of British sovereigns since the seventeenth century and even earlier for the kings of Scotland.
One of the most solemn moments was that of the anointing, in which the archbishop of Canterbury drew the sign of the cross on the forehead, chest and hands of the sovereign with sacred oil. After which the queen was officially crowned. She was made to wear a golden stole and a special tunic, and she was given some highly symbolic royal objects: the imperial globe, i.e. a golden sphere decorated with a cross and precious stones, the ring, to be worn on the ring finger of the right hand, the coronation glove (only one, always for the right hand) and two sceptres (one with a cross, the other with a dove).
Elizabeth then wore St Edward’s Crown, the highest crown in the United Kingdom, which is only used at coronations. Made in 1661 for King Charles II, it is made of gold, is decorated with sapphires and rubies and weighs over 2 kg. At the end of the ceremony she instead wore the imperial state crown, which is lighter and is used on various occasions, including the opening ceremony of the British parliament.
The crowd gathered in Trafalgar Square to watch the procession after the coronation of Elizabeth II (AP Photo)
After the end of the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the procession that brought Elizabeth back to Buckingham Palace began: the distance as the crow flies between the two points is just over a thousand meters, but the procession took place on a 7 2 kilometers, designed to ensure that the queen could be seen by as many people as possible. The procession lasted more than two hours and they participated in it nearly 30 thousand people, including members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is estimated that approx 3 million of civilians had gathered in the streets of London to watch the Queen go by, despite the rain.
At the end of the procession, Queen Elizabeth greeted the British people from the central balcony of Buckingham Palace, as happened during all the main royal family anniversaries, including the Platinum Jubilee, the celebrations for her 70 years of reign in the summer of 2022, shortly before his death. Elizabeth showed up on the balcony a second time at 21:45, when the lights were turned off along the Mall, the tree-lined avenue that connects the royal residence to the Admiralty Arch.
Elizabeth II on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after her coronation with Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. On the right is Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, wife of King George VI and mother of Elizabeth II (AP Photo)
Elizabeth wore her coronation dress on six other occasions, including the inauguration of the parliaments of New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1954. In November of the previous year, she had begun her first journey since the coronation, which took her to some of the Commonwealth countries, including Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. Last September the Imperial State Crown was placed on her coffin before and during her funeral, in this case together with the Imperial Orb and Queen’s Scepter.
(Tristan Fewings/ Getty Images)
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