2 June: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on this date in 1953. Here are ten things you might not know about this historic event.

1. The coronation took place a year after the accession of The Queen. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the ceremony has to be planned and arranged (The person who gets this job is The Earl Marshal, The Duke of Norfolk. It was the sixteenth Duke of Norfolk who organised this one) and secondly because a monarch has usually acceded because a relative has died and a big celebration soon after a death is deemed inappropriate. The date was chosen because meteorologists said 2 June was statistically the most likely to have good weather. However, the British weather did what it usually does - it rained.
2. The Queen and her maids rehearsed ahead of the coronation using sheets tied together to represent the coronation robes. On the big day, the Queen is said to have said to her maids, “ready girls?” before they set off.
3. What did the Queen wear? Her coronation gown was designed by Norman Hartnell and was practically a state secret until the day, with a police guard outside the room where it was being made. It was made at the Royal School of Needlework and everyone at the school, even the cleaners, got to sew at least one stitch in. Even so, most of them didn't get to see the whole dress - the rest of it was covered up. The design featured the floral emblems of each country of the UK (the English Tudor Rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh Leek, Irish shamrock) and those of other states within the Commonwealth (Canadian maple leaf, Australian wattle, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and wheat, cotton, and jute for Pakistan). As for Prince Philip, he wore full dress naval uniform with his duke's robes over it.
4. Queen Elizabeth II was the 39th Sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey, and the sixth to be crowned Queen in her own right. Prince Charles was the first Royal heir in history to attend his mother’s coronation. He received a special hand-painted children’s invitation. Princess Anne was deemed too young to attend.
5. It was the first coronation to be broadcast on television, despite politicians, including Winston Churchill, opposing the idea. The Queen over-ruled them. About 27 million people tuned in to watch, many of whom had bought a television specially for the occasion. The coronation is thought to have helped make TV popular. 2,000 journalists and 500 photographers from 92 nations were in London to cover the event. One of them was Jacqueline Bouvier for the Washington Times-Herald, who would later become First Lady of the United States. The cameramen filming in the Abbey, espcially those in the organ loft, were chosen because of their slightness of build.
6. The Queen arrived at Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach, which was pulled by eight grey geldings named Cunningham, Tovey, Noah, Tedder, Eisenhower, Snow White, Tipperary and McCreery.
7. The ceremony itself was steeped in traditions dating back centuries. There were six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture, which includes the crowning, the enthronement and the homage. The tune Zadok the Priest was sung at the coronation at the moment of crowning, as it has been at every coronation since the music was composed for the coronation of George II. The words have been spoken at every coronation since that of King Edgar at Bath Abbey in 973.
8. The Anointing Oil contained oils of orange, roses, cinnamon, musk and ambergris. Usually, a batch is made to last for a few coronations but the phial containing it had been destroyed by a bomb during WWII and the company that had made it had gone out of business. However, it was possible to find the recipe and make some more.
9. On her way to the Coronation, Her Majesty wore the George IV State Diadem, which was made in 1820 for George IV’s Coronation. It contains 1,333 diamonds and 169 pearls and is the one you see the Queen wearing on stamps. She was crowned with the St Edward’s Crown. She could have chosen a lighter one called the lighter Imperial State Crown, but chose to adhere to tradition and use the crown her father had been crowned with. As well as the crown, she was presented with the golden spurs, the symbol of chivalry, a jewelled sword, the armills, the golden bracelets of sincerity and wisdom, the cloth of gold Robe Royal (Imperial Mantle), the orb, the coronation ring (often referred to as ‘The Wedding Ring of England’), the glove, which was newly made and presented by the Worshipful Company of Glovers, and the sceptre.
10. Constance Spry came up with the recipe for something for the foreign guests to eat after the ceremony. It was cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with salad and rice. Her recipe has been known as Coronation Chicken ever since.