The Coronation

Gosh. I have to disagree. The programme was interesting but I thought her Majesty was quite snippy. She cut off that poor interviewer a few times and I felt sorry for him.

wilmaknickersfit, the loo situation was the first thing I thought of! As someone who drinks a lot of water and therefore is always 'popping to the loo' I did wonder about all those folk, trussed up in their finery, sitting in place for hours before the ceremony and presumably having to wait their turn to get out too.

Good point, Wilma. Although there is no doubt that thousands of people will want to be there, as they are on all royal ceremonial occasions, I wonder if the next coronation might be a scaled down affair in light of the fact that these things can now be covered by advanced media technology which was not the case in 1953 when TV was in its infancy more or less. Added to which, we don’t have an empire any more and so the world and his wife are not likely to be on the guest list! The Duke of Norfolk, in his capacity as Earl Marshall of England (love that!), will no doubt have planned for the next coronation in the same way as he has planned for the Queen’s funeral.

Apart from wondering how 8000 people sat from 8.30am until the end of the five and a half hour ceremony and their loo breaks, the other thought that crossed my mind is how on earth will the next coronation be managed in the light of today's world and terrorism. Miles and miles of tiered seating outside on the pavements alone would be impossible to police. I know the plans are ready for the death of the Queen, but the coronation is a whole different ball game.

We watched it on TV too, a small screen and the curtains closed so we could see the proceedings. Very few people had a TV set and the living room was full of neighbours who came to share the big occasion. Richard Dimbleby was the TV commentator.
Also on same day, Mount Everest was climbed for the first time by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing. . I clearly remember that.

We went to stay with my grandparents so that we could watch it on their TV (9" screen of course) We took our new kitten with us and nearly missed the whole thing because the kitten got trapped inside their sofa and took hours to extricate!

My parents and I went to stay with my DM's great aunt in London for the week. The decorations were impressive and I actually saw, and took a snap of, HM in her car on The Mall. That was a few days after the Coronation.
As it was so rainy on the day itself only my DF went to watch the procession. He came back elated at seeing the procession and at the friendliness of everyone as they all waited in the rain. The Queen of Tonga waved to the crowds from an open carriage in spite of the weather.
My DM and I had watched on tv, our first experience of it, in an Upper Norwood church hall with several other people. Some weeks later a full colour film of the Coronation was released and my school took us all to a cinema to see it.
I'm wondering now whether I should have been insistent on getting up early and going to see it for myself with DF!

Yes I must admit that crossed my mind too-we make a regular 3 hour car journey to visit DD2 and we always have a wee break. It must have been exhausting for everyone who attended. I love looking at the crowds and what they wear too. Apparently my dear Mum had an abcess on her cheek. We all went to an uncle's house-he might have been the only one with a telly perhaps? Being born in 1949 I don't remember anything about it at all but, growing up, memories of the war and its shortages were very real.

Hahaha, yes, all the old boys! Imagine having to spend a penny with all those robes on, too? I remember when my dd got married, all the to-do with her wedding dress.

I always wonder about the loo, too, especially for all those “old duffers” who would have had to be there hours before the ceremony started. And what about the maids of honour?

I hadn’t thought about that, but noted that, at one stage she was retired to a private area for a ‘short period of contemplation’. Maybe there was a ‘comfort stop’ built into that time? But what about all the numerous old duffers holed up in the Abbey crossing their legs in desperation? Age will take its toll!

Yes, I thought that about the pearls, too, Greyduster. It's a shame they can't be dual-purpose - earrings that can be put back on the crown as required.

I did have another, practical, thought about the coronation last night. Imagine having to go through all that kerfuffle for five+ hours - what would you do about the loo? The queen must have been desperate by the time she got back to the palace.

I remember being taken to London, at the age of about ten, by my father, to see the Crown Jewels. (He remembered the King’s coronation in 1937. No TV in those days though). He said everyone ought to see them at least once. It was easier to get in and see them in those days. He was almost reverential as he told me about which pieces represented what and where some of the larger jewels came from. I have seen very good replicas, but they don’t hold a candle to the real thing. I have often thought it a shame that more of the earlier medieval pieces did not survive to be part of the regalia (I suppose it’s a miracle that the Black Prince’s Ruby survived to be part of it today) and it was interesting to hear the Queen talk about Queen Elizabeth the First’s pearls as looking lost and having no life, because pearls need to be worn next to the skin to retain their lustre.

I enjoyed the programme and thought the Queen very down to earth. I was surprised to learn that we had probably seen more footage of the coronation than she had.
I am reading Ingrid Seward's book My husband and I and it is really interesting.

I enjoyed the programme, especially the history behind it all. I thought the queen came over as very down to earth and practical.

A little anecdote about the coronation; my parents were going to see the coronation with my bro and sister (I wasn't born then). On the morning of the day my sister woke up rather ill and was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. In those days, children had to be hospitalised with SF and so my poor parents had to battle their car through the crowds in London in order to get my sister to an isolation hospital.

Not only did they miss the coronation, but my sister was the only child in the whole of London who had Scarlet Fever - they had no idea where she caught it!

I enjoyed the clip of George VI's coronation when the Archbishop couldn't find his marker on the front of the crown Also the Maid of Honour being held up by the man next to her. What a work of art those dresses were!

I thought the Queen would fit in rather well on GN . She plainly doesn't suffer fools gladly and I'm sure she could hold her own again st some of our more forthright posters.

I am a fan of the interviewer, Alastair Bruce . He covers all things Royal for Sky News and he knocks the BBC commentators such as Hugh Edwards into a cocked hat usually. Very knowledgeable .

I thought it was a very interesting programme giving factual evidence and detail and the Queen appeared to be as interested in the whole process and enjoyed watching the footage just as ' some ' of us did to.

A bit of a coup for the Beeb probably.

I passed on that prog - sounds like it was quite interesting though. Newquay - you may have a point.

goldengirl the reason why the interviewer did not touch the crown is because only three people are allowed to touch it - the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the crown jeweller. It was the crown jeweller who was wearing the white gloves.

I loved the bit when the interviewer asked the gentleman who I presume brought over the crowns to move the crown nearer to the Queen [probably because he was wearing white gloves] and she just reached out a grabbed it - and was NOT wearing gloves. Priceless!!! Down to 'earthness' at its best

Niggly, it is a most interesting programme, the history and the queens memories of her coronation plus a lady in waiting at the coronation Not sure in they were called lady in waiting but you will know what I mean x

No royalist, but it was an interesting programme from the point of the crown jewels

merlotgran - yes, my impression that she doesn't suffer fools gladly is reinforced. But her sense of humour shone through too.

I enjoyed it, especially hearing about the history of the Crown Jewels - our monarchy is a thread through the ages and through the history of this country.

We enjoyed it and were amused by the way the Queen's expression could change from warm and witty to 'don't be silly' in the blink of an eye. I think there were times when her victim interviewer looked quite terrified.