The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Today we’re celebrating the 67th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Day!
At precisely 11.15 on the morning of June 2nd, 1953, the British nation and the world watched as Queen Elizabeth II’s spectacular Coronation ceremony began. Then aged just 26, the young monarch had ascended the throne upon the untimely death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952.
The Coronation was a deeply symbolic and deeply moving occasion and there had been extensive preparations leading up to it, not the least by The Queen herself, who had reportedly spent hours at home going through her paces on a makeshift throne in the Palace bedroom, wearing white bedsheets tied together as her train.
Today we’re looking at a few facts you may not have known about the Coronation Day…
– The Coronation service fell into six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture (which includes the crowning), the enthronement and the homage.
– Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066. Before the Abbey was built, Coronations were carried out wherever it was convenient, taking place in Bath, Oxford and Canterbury.
– The Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, was the first Queen to see a grandchild ascend to the throne. However, she died before the Coronation took place.
– Prince Charles was the first child to witness his mother’s coronation as Sovereign. The young Prince received a special hand-painted children’s invitation to his mother’s Coronation. Princess Anne did not attend the ceremony as she was considered too young.
– The Ministry of Food granted 82 applications for people to roast oxen if they could prove that by tradition, an ox had been roasted at previous Coronations.
– On 2 June 1953, news reached that Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay had made it to the summit of Mount Everest. The Queen presented the 14 members of the expedition with special edition Coronation medals with the extra wording ‘Mount Everest Expedition’.
We’d love to hear your messages of congratulations on Her Majesty’s special day, so please head to our Facebook and Twitter pages to share.
Have a lovely week,
The Royal Life Team
