Coronation of Elizabeth II#Coronation Review of the RAF

The one-day ceremony took 14 months of preparation: the first meeting of the Coronation Commission was in April 1952,{{Cite book| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur|last2=Toffoli |first2=Gary| title=Fifty Years the Queen| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2002| location=Toronto| page=74| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8l5reK7NjoC| isbn=978-1-55002-360-2| ref={{sfnref|Bousfield|2002}}}} under the chairmanship of the Queen's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.{{Harvnb| Bousfield| 2002| p=100}}{{cite news |date=29 April 1952 |title=Coronation June 2 Next Year |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19520429&id=bVBAAAAAIBAJ&pg=2339,5422906&hl=en |access-date= |work=The Glasgow Herald |via=Google News}} Other committees were also formed, such as the Coronation Joint Committee and the Coronation Executive Committee,{{cite news |date=2 June 1953 |title=Family's Ancient Right to Prepare for Coronation |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19530602&id=77QUAAAAIBAJ&pg=7135,3870160&hl=en |access-date= |work=The Age |via=Google News}} both chaired by the Duke of Norfolk who,{{cite news |date=1 June 1953 |title=Staging Coronation Complex Problem |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19530601&id=u9IwAAAAIBAJ&pg=3915,243109&hl=en |access-date= |work=Ottawa Citizen |via=Google News}} by convention as earl marshal, had overall responsibility for the event. Many physical preparations and decorations along the route were the responsibility of David Eccles, Minister of Works. Eccles described his role and that of the Earl Marshal: "The Earl Marshal is the producer – I am the stage manager..."{{cite magazine|last1=Herbert|first1=A. P.|title=Here Comes the Queen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUkEAAAAMBAJ&q=david+eccles+earl+marshal+newspaper&pg=PA98|access-date=19 March 2016|magazine=Life|date=27 April 1953|page=98}} Architect Hugh Casson designed street decorations for Westminster, and Eric Bedford designed the Coronation Arches erected over The Mall.{{Cite web |title=Sir Hugh Casson and the coronation |url=https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/inside-the-riba-collections/casson-and-the-coronation |access-date=2024-05-04 |publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects}}

File:1953 coronation ticket.jpg]]

The committees involved high commissioners from other Commonwealth realms, reflecting the international nature of the coronation; however, officials from other Commonwealth realms declined invitations to participate in the event because the governments of those countries considered the ceremony to be a religious rite unique to Britain. As Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent said at the time: "In my view the Coronation is the official enthronement of the Sovereign as Sovereign of the UK. We are happy to attend and witness the Coronation of the Sovereign of the UK but we are not direct participants in that function."{{cite book| last=Trepanier| first=Peter| editor-last=Coates| editor-first=Colin M.| publication-date=2006| title=Majesty in Canada| contribution=A Not Unwilling Subject: Canada and Her Queen| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Hamilton| pages=144–145| isbn=9781550025866| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC| access-date=16 October 2012| year=2006}} The Coronation Commission announced in June 1952 that the coronation would take place on 2 June 1953.{{Harvnb| Bousfield| 2002| p=77}}

File:Queen Elizabeth II coronation invitation.webp ]]

Invitations for the coronation were designed by the illustrator Joan Hassall; she had to use scraperboard to produce the final design as there was not enough time to produce a wood engraving for such a large and complex design. She also designed the personal invitation that Prince Charles received to the coronation.{{Cite news |last1=Andersson |first1=Jasmine |last2=Seddon |first2=Sean |date=6 April 2023 |title=Coronation invitations through the ages |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65189161 |work=BBC News}}

Norman Hartnell was commissioned by the Queen to design the outfits for all members of the royal family, including Elizabeth's coronation gown. His design for the gown evolved through nine proposals, and the final version resulted from his own research and numerous meetings with the Queen: a white silk dress embroidered with floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth at the time: the Tudor rose of England, Scottish thistle, Welsh leek, shamrock for Northern Ireland, wattle of Australia, maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand silver fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton and jute.{{Cite web |last=Hartnell |first=Sir Norman |author-link=Norman Hartnell |date=2020-05-27 |title='Silver and Gold' by Norman Hartnell |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/silver-and-gold-by-norman-hartnell |access-date= |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Pauline Weston |date=18 July 2023 |title=Dress Queen Elizabeth Coronation Gown |url=http://www.fashion-era.com/coronation_dress.htm |access-date= |website=Fashion-Era |publisher=}}{{cite web| url=http://www.nga.gov.au/ByAppointment/| last1=Cotton| first1=Belinda| last2=Ramsey| first2=Ron| title=By Appointment: Norman Hartnell's sample for the Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II| publisher=National Gallery of Australia| access-date=12 February 2010| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530044811/http://www.nga.gov.au/ByAppointment/| archive-date=30 May 2012| url-status=dead}} Roger Vivier created a pair of gold shoes for the occasion. The sandals featured jewel-encrusted heels and decorative motif on the upper sides, which was meant to resemble "the fleurs-de-lis pattern on the St Edward's Crown and the Imperial State Crown".{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/queen-elizabeth-coronation-shoes-roger-vivier|title=The Queen's Coronation Shoes Are Making A Comeback 67 Years Later|work=British Vogue|first=Alice|last=Newbold|date=5 June 2020|accessdate=26 September 2022}} Elizabeth chose to wear the Coronation necklace for the event. The piece was commissioned by Queen Victoria and worn by Queens Alexandra, Mary, and Elizabeth at their respective coronations. She paired it with the Coronation earrings.{{cite web|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/a-royal-welcome/buckingham-palace/the-coronation-necklace|title=The Coronation necklace 1858 – 1911|work=Royal Collection Trust|accessdate=26 September 2022}}

Elizabeth rehearsed for the occasion with her maids of honour. A sheet was used in place of the velvet train, and a formation of chairs stood in for the carriage. She also wore the Imperial State Crown while going about her daily business – at her desk, during tea, and while reading a newspaper – so that she could become accustomed to its feel and weight. Elizabeth took part in two full rehearsals at Westminster Abbey, on 22 and 29 May,{{Cite book| last=McDowell| first=Colin| title=A Hundred Years of Royal Style| publisher=Muller, Blond & White| year=1985| location=London| page=[https://archive.org/details/hundredyearsofro00mcdo/page/70 70]| isbn=978-0-584-11071-5| url=https://archive.org/details/hundredyearsofro00mcdo/page/70}} though some sources claim that she attended one or "several" rehearsals.{{Cite book| last=Bradford| first=Sarah| title=Elizabeth: A Biography of Britain's Queen| publisher=Riverhead Trade| date=1 May 1997| location=London| page=[https://archive.org/details/elizabethbiograp00brad_0/page/186 186]| isbn=978-1-57322-600-4| url=https://archive.org/details/elizabethbiograp00brad_0/page/186}}{{Cite book| last=Brooke-Little| first=John| title=Royal Ceremonies of State| publisher=Littlehampton Book Services Ltd.| year=1980| location=London| page=52| isbn=978-0-600-37628-6}} The Duchess of Norfolk usually stood in for the Queen at rehearsals.{{cite web|url=https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/print-edition/2022/june/2545/feature/diamond-brooch-given-by-queen-elizabeth-ii-as-a-thank-you-for-coronation-duties/|title=Diamond brooch given by Queen Elizabeth II as a thank-you for coronation duties|work=Antiques Trade Gazette|date=30 May 2022|access-date=20 June 2022}} Westminster Abbey was closed for five months in preparation for the coronation.{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr3cVy-ACEw/?hl=en|title=Tomorrow, Westminster Abbey will be the location for the first coronation in 70 years. Take a look at some of the work that has gone into preparing the Abbey for the ceremony.|work=Westminster Abbey|via=Instagram|date=5 May 2023|accessdate=5 May 2023}}

Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary had died on 24 March 1953, having stated in her will that her death should not affect the planning of the coronation, and the event went ahead as scheduled. It was estimated to cost £1.57 million (c£. {{Inflation|UK-GDP|1570000|1953|fmt=c|r=-4}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}{{Inflation-fn|UK-GDP}}), which included stands along the procession route to accommodate 96,000 people, lavatories, street decorations, outfits, car hire, repairs to the state coach, and alterations to the Queen's regalia.{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Bob|title=Inaugurating a New Reign: Planning for Accession and Coronation|year=2018|publisher=University College London|isbn=978-1-903903-82-7|pages=23–24}}

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File:Queen Elizabeth II in Coronation Robes.jpg to commemorate the coronation]]

The coronation ceremony of Elizabeth II followed a pattern similar to the coronations of the kings and queens before her, being held in Westminster Abbey, and involving the peerage and clergy. However, for the new queen, several parts of the ceremony were markedly different.

Twenty-seven million people across Britain watched the event live on the BBC Television Service, many having purchased or rented television sets specifically for that purpose.{{cite book |last1=Range |first1=Matthias |title=British Royal and State Funerals: Music and Ceremonial Since Elizabeth I |date=2016 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-78327-092-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kn1FDAAAQBAJ |language=en|page=286}} The number of license holders doubled from approximately one and a half million to three million.{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/royal-archives-coronation|title=Coronations and the Royal Archives|work=The Royal Family|accessdate=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418214713/https://www.royal.uk/royal-archives-coronation|archive-date=18 April 2023}} The coronation was the first to be televised in full; the BBC's cameras had not been allowed inside Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II's parents' coronation in 1937 and had covered only the procession outside.{{Cite book| title=BBC Handbook 1938| publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation| year=1938| location=London| pages=38–39}}{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/hundreds-come-forward-to-claim-a-role-in-king-charless-coronation-12797478|title=Hundreds come forward to claim a role in King Charles's coronation|work=Sky News|first=Rhiannon|last=Mills|date=28 January 2023|accessdate=28 January 2023}} There had been considerable debate within the British Cabinet on the subject, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the idea; Elizabeth refused his advice on this matter and insisted the event take place before television cameras,{{cite web| url=http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/TheCoronation1953.htm| title=The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II| publisher=Historic UK| access-date=20 December 2009}} as well as those filming with experimental 3D technology.{{refn|This footage was in 2010 used in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's first 3D television broadcast, the first time the images had been shown on television.|group=n|name=CBC}}{{Cite news| last=Szklarski| first=Cassandra| title=Put on those specs, couch potatoes – 3D poised to reinvent TV: tech guru| publisher=News1130| date=10 June 2010| url=http://www.news1130.com/entertainment/article/65032--put-on-those-specs-couch-potatoes-3d-poised-to-reinvent-tv-tech-guru| access-date=11 August 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717135255/http://www.news1130.com/entertainment/article/65032--put-on-those-specs-couch-potatoes-3d-poised-to-reinvent-tv-tech-guru| archive-date=17 July 2011| df=dmy-all}} An experiment in colour television, separate from the BBC's black and white television broadcast, was transmitted to children at the Great Ormond Street Hospital where an average of 17 people watched each small screen.{{cite web|title=Early Color Television: British Experimental Field Sequential Color System|url=http://www.earlytelevision.org/british_experimental.html |publisher=Early Television Museum|access-date=23 June 2012}}{{cite web |title=Television reigns: Broadcasting Queen Elizabeth's coronation |url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/television-reigns-broadcasting-queen-elizabeths-coronation |website=Science Museum |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200103031130/https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/television-reigns-broadcasting-queen-elizabeths-coronation |archive-date=3 January 2020 |language=en |date=29 October 2018 |url-status=live}}

In Europe, thanks to new relay links, this was the first live broadcast of an event taking place in the United Kingdom. The coronation was broadcast in France, Belgium, West Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, marking the birth of Eurovision.

File:Coronation Program.jpg's coronation; photo of the programme taken at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in 2019.]]

To make sure Canadians could see it on the same day, Operation Pony Express was executed,{{cite web| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mounties-to-feature-in-kings-slimmed-down-coronation-procession/| last=Woolf| first=Marie| title=Mounties to feature in King's slimmed-down coronation procession| date=13 March 2023| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| accessdate=13 April 2023}} seeing RAF Canberras fly BBC film recordings of the ceremony across the Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the first non-stop flights between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. At Goose Bay, Labrador, the first batch of film was transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-100 jet fighter for the further trip to Montreal. In all, three such flights were made as the coronation proceeded, with the first and second Canberras taking the second and third batches of film, respectively, to Montreal.{{cite web| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/topics/70/| title=Society > The Monarchy > Canada's New Queen > Coronation of Queen Elizabeth > Did You Know?| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| accessdate=17 December 2009}} The following day, a film was flown west to Vancouver, where the CBC Television affiliate had yet to sign on. The film was escorted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the Peace Arch Border Crossing, after which it was escorted by the Washington State Patrol to Bellingham, where it was shown as the inaugural broadcast of KVOS-TV, a new station whose signal reached into the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, allowing viewers there to see the coronation as well, though on a one-day delay.

US networks NBC and CBS made similar arrangements to have films flown in relays back to the United States for same-day broadcast, but they used slower propeller-driven aircraft. NBC had originally planned to carry the event live via skywave direct from the BBC. However, the station was unable to establish a broadcast-quality video link on coronation day, due to poor atmospheric conditions.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=TV Insider |title=TV Guide Throwback: How The Queen's Coronation Was Televised in 1953 |url=https://www.tvinsider.com/1059788/queen-elizabeth-coronation-1953-tv-guide/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=TV Insider |date=8 September 2022 |language=en-US}} The struggling ABC network arranged to re-transmit the CBC broadcast, taking the on-the-air signal from the CBC's Toronto station and feeding the network from WBEN-TV, Buffalo's lone television station at the time; as a result, ABC beat the other two networks to air by more than 90 minutes and at considerably lower cost.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} However, the Canadian broadcast was the first in North America, viewers in eastern Canada watching the ceremony a half hour before Americans did.

Although it did not as yet have a full-time television service, film was also dispatched to Australia aboard a Qantas airliner, which arrived in Sydney in a record time of 53 hours 28 minutes.{{cite web |url= http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Fifty%20years%20ago%20-%201953.htm |title=Fifty Years Ago – 1953 |date=2003 |website= airwaysmuseum.com |publisher= The Civil Aviation Historical Society & Airways Museum |access-date= 12 August 2018 }} The worldwide television audience for the coronation was estimated to be 277 million.{{cite web |url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/queen-s-coronation-made-history-for-canada-and-for-television-1.1315654 |title=Queen's coronation made history for Canada – and for television |last=Davison |first=Janet |date=2 June 2013 |website= www.cbc.ca |publisher= CBC News |access-date= 12 August 2018}} Additionally, 11 million in the UK listened to the broadcast on radio.{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/50-facts-about-queens-coronation-0|title=50 facts about The Queen's Coronation|work=The Royal Family|accessdate=17 March 2023}}

File:Elizabeth II coronation banner.jpg

Along a route lined with sailors, soldiers, and airmen and women from across the British Empire and Commonwealth,{{refn|Including 856 representing the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvMe9W1B6_8C| last=McCreery| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher McCreery| title=Commemorative Medals of The Queen's Reign in Canada, 1952–2012| page=49| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2012| location=Toronto| isbn=9781459707580}}|group=n|name=CanMilitary}} guests and officials passed in a procession before about three million spectators that were gathered on the streets of London, some having camped overnight in their spot to ensure a view of the monarch, and others having access to specially built stands and scaffolding along the route.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2/newsid_2654000/2654501.stm| title=On This Day > 2nd June > 1953: Queen Elizabeth takes coronation oath| publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation| access-date=19 December 2009| date=2 June 1953}} For those not present, more than 200 microphones were stationed along the path and in Westminster Abbey, with 750 commentators broadcasting in 39 languages.

The procession included foreign royalty and heads of state riding to Westminster Abbey in various carriages, so many that volunteers ranging from wealthy businessmen to rural landowners were required to supplement the insufficient ranks of regular footmen. The first royal coach left Buckingham Palace and moved down the Mall, which was filled with flag-waving and cheering crowds. It was followed by the Irish State Coach carrying Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who wore the circlet of her crown bearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Queen Elizabeth II proceeded through London from Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square, and towards the abbey in the Gold State Coach drawn by eight grey geldings. The Royal Mews staff placed a hot water bottle under the coach's seat to keep the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh warm.{{cite web|url=https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-royal-mews-buckingham-palace/the-gold-state-coach#/|title=The Gold State Coach|work=Royal Collection Trust|accessdate=10 April 2023}} Attached to the shoulders of her dress, the Queen wore the Robe of State, a {{convert|6|yd|adj=on}} long, hand woven silk velvet cloak lined with Canadian ermine that required the assistance of her maids of honour— Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Anne Coke, Lady Moyra Hamilton, Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill and the Duchess of Devonshire{{Cite web|url= https://www.tatler.com/article/lady-anne-glenconner-lady-in-waiting-princess-margaret |title=Lady Anne Glenconner's memoir reveals her as the ultimate in royal companions|first=Annabel|last=Sampson |date=15 October 2019|website=Tatler |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191108232653/https://www.tatler.com/article/lady-anne-glenconner-lady-in-waiting-princess-margaret |archive-date= 2019-11-08 |url-status=live}}—to carry.{{cite book |first=Anne |last=Glenconner |author-link=Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner |title=Lady in waiting : my extraordinary life in the shadow of the crown |date=2019 |chapter=4 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=9781529359084}}

The return procession followed a route that was {{convert|5.1|mi}} in length, passing along Whitehall, across Trafalgar Square, along Pall Mall and Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner, via Marble Arch and Oxford Circus, down Regent Street and Haymarket, and finally along the Mall to Buckingham Palace. 29,000 service personnel from Britain and across the Commonwealth marched in a procession that was {{convert|2|mi}} long and took 45 minutes to pass any given point. A further 15,800 lined the route.Arlott, John and others (1953) Elizabeth Crowned Queen, Odhams Press Limited (pp. 15–25) The parade was led by Colonel Burrows of the War Office staff and four regimental bands. Then came the colonial contingents, then troops from the Commonwealth realms, followed by the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the Royal Navy, and finally the Household Brigade.{{cite news|title=The Ceremonial of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |date=17 November 1952 |url=http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/sites/www.thediamondjubilee.org/files/Ceremonial%20of%20the%20Coronation_0.pdf |newspaper=Supplement to the London Gazette |pages=6253–6263 |access-date=24 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233051/http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/sites/www.thediamondjubilee.org/files/Ceremonial%20of%20the%20Coronation_0.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2013 |df=dmy }} Behind the marching troops was a carriage procession led by the rulers of the British protectorates, including Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga, the Commonwealth prime ministers, the princes and princesses of the blood royal, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Preceded by the heads of the British Armed Forces on horseback, the Gold State Coach was escorted by the Yeomen of the Guard and the Household Cavalry and was followed by the Queen's aides-de-camp.London Gazette pp. 6264–6270 So many carriages were required that some had to be borrowed from Elstree Studios.Strong 2005, pp. 453

After the end of the procession, the royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast.Strong 2005, pp. 449–450 The flypast had been altered on the day due to the bad weather, but otherwise took place as planned. 168 jet fighters flew overhead in three divisions thirty seconds apart, at an altitude of 1,500 feet.{{refn|The aircraft were 144 Gloster Meteors of the Royal Air Force and 24 Canadair Sabres of the Royal Canadian Air Force, commanded by Air Vice Marshal the Earl of Bandon, who would later organise the larger RAF Coronation Review flypast in July.|group=n|name=Flypast}}{{cite news |title=168 Jets Roared Over The Palace Balcony |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002318/19530603/100/0008 |access-date=22 June 2022 |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=3 June 1953}}

{{Main|List of guests at the coronation of Elizabeth II}}

File:Coronation Chairs QE II.JPG

After being closed since the Queen's accession for coronation preparations, Westminster Abbey was opened at 6 am on Coronation Day to the approximately 8,000 guests invited from across the Commonwealth of Nations;{{refn|From Canada came the prime minister, Louis St. Laurent, and five other members of the federal Cabinet, the chief justice, the speakers of the House of Commons and Senate, the leaders of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the same two houses, and the leader of the Government in the Senate,{{Harvnb| McCreery| 2012| p=48}} Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Louis Breithaupt and his premier, Leslie Frost, as well as Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas, Quebec Cabinet ministers Onésime Gagnon and John Samuel Bourque,{{cite web|url=http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/clips/4369/ |title=Society > The Monarchy > Coronation of Queen Elizabeth |publisher=CBC |access-date=4 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227075818/http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/clips/4369/ |archive-date=27 December 2010 |url-status=live |df=dmy }} Mayor of Toronto Allan A. Lamport, and Chief of the Squamish Nation Joe Mathias.{{cite web| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/topics/70/| last=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| author-link=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| title=Society > The Monarchy > Canada's New Queen > Coronation of Queen Elizabeth > The Story| publisher=CBC| access-date=17 December 2009}}|group=n|name=Can}}{{Harvnb| Brooke-Little| 1980| p=55}} more prominent individuals, such as members of the Queen's family and foreign royalty, the peers of the United Kingdom, heads of state, members of Parliament from the Queen's various legislatures,{{cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/AccessionCoronation/Accessionandcoronation.aspx| last=Royal Household| title=Her Majesty The Queen > Accession and Coronation| publisher=Queen's Printer| access-date=18 December 2009}} and the like, arrived after 8:30 a.m. Queen Sālote of Tonga was a guest, and was noted for her cheery demeanour while riding in an open carriage through London in the rain.{{cite web|url=https://www.pmo.gov.to/ourconstitution/1953-queen-salote-attends-queen-elizabeth-ii-coronation.html |title=Our Constitution > Timeline > Post 1875 > 1953: Queen Salote attends Queen Elizabeth II coronation |publisher=Director and Secretariat to the Constitutional and Electoral Commission |access-date=20 December 2009 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} General George Marshall, the former United States secretary of state who implemented the Marshall Plan, was appointed chairman of the US delegation to the coronation and attended the ceremony along with his wife, Katherine.{{Cite book|title=Marshall: A Statesman Shaped in the Crucible of War|last=Thompson|first=Rachel Yarnell|publisher=George C. Marshall International Center|year=2014|isbn=9780615929033|location=Leesburg, Virginia}}

Among other dignitaries who attended the event were Sir Winston Churchill; the prime ministers of Burma, India and Pakistan, U Nu, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Bogra; and Col Anastasio Somoza Debayle of Nicaragua.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/09/leaders-and-monarchs-from-around-world-to-attend-queens-state-funeral |title=1953: Leaders and monarchs from around world to attend Queen's state funeral

|date=2 June 1953|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 September 2022}} 129 nations and territories were represented by their dignitaries at the service. Foreign and Commonwealth representatives were also invited to two banquets hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen later revealed that some peers had hidden sandwiches underneath their coronets to fuel them through the three-hour ceremony.{{cite web|url=https://www.tatler.com/article/coronation-dress-code-no-coronets-robers-peers|title=Peers advised against crimson robes and coronets for the coronation|work=Tatler|first=Hope|last=Coke|date=4 April 2023|accessdate=19 April 2023}} Guests seated on stools were able to purchase their stools following the ceremony, with the profits going towards the cost of the coronation.{{cite web| url=http://gov.ns.ca/iga/djPhoto.asp| last=Government of Nova Scotia| title=The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II > Diamond Jubilee Photos| publisher=Queen's Printer for Nova Scotia| access-date=29 February 2012}}

File:Royal Family Coronation 1952.jpg (centre right)]]

Preceding the Queen into Westminster Abbey was the coronation regalia, including the Second Sword, carried by the Earl of Home, Curtana carried by the Duke of Northumberland, the Third Sword carried by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury and St Edward's Crown, carried into the abbey by the Lord High Steward of England, the Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope flanked by two other peers. The archbishops and bishops assistant (Durham and Bath and Wells) of the Church of England, in their copes and mitres, waited outside the Great West Door for Queen Elizabeth II's arrival. When she arrived at about 11:00 am, she found that the friction between her robes and the carpet caused her difficulty moving forward, and she said to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, "Get me started!" Once going, the procession, which included the various high commissioners of the Commonwealth carrying banners bearing the shields of the coats of arms of their respective nations,{{Harvnb| Bousfield| 2002| p=78}} moved inside the abbey, up the central aisle and through the choir to the stage, as the choirs sang I was glad, an imperial setting of Psalm 122, vv. 1–3, 6, and 7 by Sir Hubert Parry.{{cite web| url=http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html| title=The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953| publisher=An Anglican Liturgical Library| access-date=15 December 2009| ref={{sfnref|An Anglican Liturgical Library}}}} As Elizabeth prayed at and then seated herself on the Chair of Estate to the south of the altar, the bishops carried in the religious paraphernalia—the Bible, paten and chalice—and the peers holding the coronation regalia handed them over to the archbishop of Canterbury, who, in turn, passed them to the dean of Westminster, Alan Don, to be placed on the altar.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=II}}

File:Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II Couronnement de la Reine Elizabeth II.jpg, the darker chair at right]]

After she moved to stand before King Edward's Chair, Elizabeth turned, following as Fisher, along with the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, the Lord Simonds; the Lord Great Chamberlain of England, the Marquess of Cholmondeley; the Lord High Constable of England, the Viscount Alanbrooke; and the Earl Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk; all led by Garter Principal King of Arms George Bellew. The Archbishop of Canterbury asked the audience in each direction of the compass separately: "Sirs, I here present unto you Queen Elizabeth, your undoubted Queen: wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?" The crowd would reply "God save Queen Elizabeth!" every time,{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=III}} to each of which the Queen would curtsey in return.

Seated again on the Chair of Estate, Elizabeth then took the coronation oath as administered by the archbishop of Canterbury. In the lengthy oath, she swore to govern each of her countries according to their respective laws and customs, to mete out law and justice with mercy, to uphold Protestantism in the United Kingdom and protect the Church of England and preserve its bishops and clergy. She proceeded to the altar where she stated, "The things which I have here promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God", before kissing the Bible and putting the royal sign-manual to the oath as the Bible was returned to the dean of Westminster.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=IV}} From him the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, James Pitt-Watson, took the Bible and presented it to Elizabeth again, saying,

{{blockquote|Our gracious Queen: to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God.}}

Elizabeth returned the book to Pitt-Watson, who placed it back with the dean of Westminster.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=V}}

File:Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom 1952-12-13.jpg, the Orb, the Sceptre with Cross, Sceptre with Dove, and the Ring]]

The communion service was then conducted, involving prayers by both the clergy and Elizabeth, Fisher asking, "O God... Grant unto this thy servant Elizabeth, our Queen, the spirit of wisdom and government, that being devoted unto thee with her whole heart, she may so wisely govern, that in her time thy Church may be in safety, and Christian devotion may continue in peace", before reading various excerpts from the First Epistle of Peter, Psalms, and the Gospel of Matthew.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=VI}} Elizabeth was then anointed as the choir sang Zadok the Priest; the Queen's jewellery and crimson cape were removed by the Earl of Ancaster and the Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Devonshire and, wearing only a simple, white linen dress also designed by Hartnell to completely cover the coronation gown, she moved to be seated in King Edward's Chair. There, Fisher, assisted by the Dean of Westminster, made a cross on her forehead, hands and breast with holy oil made from the same base as had been used in the coronation of her father. A gold canopy borne aloft by four Knights of the Garter on poles shielded her, and at her request, the anointing ceremony was not televised.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22764987|title = Coronation 1953: Magic moment the TV cameras missed|work = BBC News|date = 4 June 2013}}

From the altar, the dean passed to the Lord Great Chamberlain the spurs, which were presented to Elizabeth and then placed back on the altar. The Sword of State was then handed to Elizabeth, who, after a prayer was uttered by Fisher, placed it herself on the altar, and the peer who had been previously holding it took it back again after paying a sum of 100 shillings.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=VIII}} Elizabeth was then invested with the Armills (bracelets), Stole Royal, Robe Royal and the Sovereign's Orb, followed by the Sovereign's Ring, the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign's Sceptre with Dove. With the first two items on and in her right hand and the latter in her left, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned by the archbishop of Canterbury, with the crowd chanting "God save the Queen!" three times at the exact moment St Edward's Crown touched the monarch's head. The princes and peers gathered then put on their coronets and a 21-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=IX–XI}}

File:Queencrown.jpg swearing allegiance to his wife]]

With the benediction read, Elizabeth moved to the throne and the archbishop of Canterbury and all the bishops offered to her their fealty, after which, while the choir sang, the peers of the United Kingdom—led by the royal peers: Elizabeth's husband; her uncle the Duke of Gloucester; and her cousin the Duke of Kent—each proceeded, in order of precedence, to pay their personal homage and allegiance. After the royal peers, the 5 most senior peers, one for each rank, offered their fealty as representatives of the peerage of the United Kingdom: Norfolk for Dukes and Duchesses, the Marquess Huntly for Marquesses and Marchionesses, the Earl of Shrewsbury for Earls and Countesses, the Viscount of Arbuthnott for Viscounts and Viscountesses and the Lord Mowbray for Barons and Baronesses.{{cite AV media |date=2 June 2018 |title=BBC TV Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II: Westminster Abbey 1953 (William McKie) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NTjasbmgw |access-date=26 September 2022 |time=1:44:20 |publisher=Archive of Recorded Church Music}}

When the last Baron had completed this task, the assembly shouted "God save Queen Elizabeth. Long live Queen Elizabeth. May the Queen live for ever!"{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=XII–XIV}} Having removed all her royal regalia, Elizabeth knelt and took the communion, including a general confession and absolution, and, along with the congregation, recited the Lord's Prayer.{{Harvnb| An Anglican Liturgical Library| loc=XV}}

Now wearing the Imperial State Crown and holding the Sceptre with the Cross and the Orb, and as the gathered guests sang "God Save the Queen", Elizabeth left Westminster Abbey through the nave and apse, out the Great West Door.

File:Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - Couronnement de la Reine Elizabeth II (7195940764).jpg

Although many had assumed that the master of the queen's music, Sir Arnold Bax, would be the director of music for the coronation, it was decided instead to appoint the organist and master of the choristers at the abbey, William McKie, who had been in charge of music at the royal wedding in 1947. McKie convened an advisory committee with Sir Arnold Bax and Sir Ernest Bullock, who had directed the music for the previous coronation.{{cite book| last=Wilkinson| first=James| title=The Queen's Coronation: The Inside Story| publisher= Scala Publishers Ltd.| page=24| year=2011| isbn=978-1-85759-735-6}}

When it came to choosing the music, tradition required that Handel's Zadok the Priest and Parry's I was glad were included amongst the anthems. Other choral works included were the anonymous 16th century anthem "Rejoice in the Lord alway" and Samuel Sebastian Wesley's Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. Another tradition was that new works be commissioned from the leading composers of the day: Ralph Vaughan Williams composed a new motet O Taste and See, William Walton composed a setting for the Te Deum, and the Canadian composer Healey Willan wrote an anthem O Lord our Governor.{{harvnb| Wilkinson| 2011| p=27}} Four new orchestral pieces were planned; Arthur Bliss composed Processional; Walton, Orb and Sceptre; and Arnold Bax, Coronation March. Benjamin Britten had agreed to compose a piece, but he caught influenza and then had to deal with flooding at Aldeburgh, so nothing was forthcoming. Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D was played immediately before Bax's march at the end of the ceremony.{{harvnb| Wilkinson| 2011| p=28}} An innovation, at the suggestion of Vaughan Williams, was the inclusion of a hymn in which the congregation could participate. This proved controversial and was not included in the programme until Elizabeth had been consulted and found to be in favour; Vaughan Williams wrote an elaborate arrangement of the traditional metrical psalm, the Old Hundredth, which included military trumpet fanfares and was sung before the communion.{{harvnb| Wilkinson| 2011| p=25}} Gordon Jacob wrote a choral arrangement of God Save the Queen, also with trumpet fanfares.{{cite book |last=Range |first=Matthias |date=2012 |title=Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rIgAwAAQBAJ&q=Gordon+Jacob+%22God+Save+the+Queen%22&pg=PA323 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages= 256–257 |isbn= 978-1-107-02344-4 }}

The choir for the coronation was a combination of the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, the Chapel Royal, and Saint George's Chapel, Windsor. In addition to those established choirs, the Royal School of Church Music conducted auditions to find twenty boy trebles from parish church choirs representing the various regions of the United Kingdom. Along with twelve trebles chosen from various British cathedral choirs, the selected boys spent the month beforehand training at Addington Palace.{{cite web| url=http://www.rscm.com/info_resources/news/Coronation.php| title=RSCM choristers at the Queen's Coronation in 1953| publisher=The Royal School of Church Music| access-date=10 January 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110192206/http://www.rscm.com/info_resources/news/Coronation.php| archive-date=10 January 2014| url-status=dead}} The final complement of choristers comprised 182 boy trebles, 37 male altos, 62 tenors and 67 basses. The orchestra, of 60 players, was drawn from the leading members of British symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles. Each of the 18 violinists, headed by Paul Beard, was the leader of a major orchestra or chamber group. The conductor was Sir Adrian Boult, who had conducted the orchestra at the previous coronation.{{cite news|title=Coronation Orchestra|date=18 May 1953|periodical=The Times|page=11}}

{{Listen

| type = speech

| filename = Elizabeth II Coronation speech.ogg

| title = The Queen's Coronation Day broadcast

| description = The Queen's speech to the Commonwealth and Empire in the evening of her Coronation Day

}}

File:Stampqe2australia800pix.jpg

In the evening on 2 June, the Queen made a live radio broadcast to thank the public. All across the Queen's realms, the rest of the Commonwealth, and in other parts of the world, coronation celebrations were held. The British government announced an extra bank holiday that fell on 3 June and moved the last bank holiday in May to 2 June to allow for an extended time of celebrations.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63528830|title=Extra bank holiday approved to mark King's coronation|work=BBC News|first=Jasmine|last=Andersson|date=6 November 2022|accessdate=6 November 2022}} The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal was also presented to thousands of recipients throughout the Queen's realms and in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, commemorative coins were issued.{{cite web| url=http://www.coincraft.com/catalog/displayitem.asp?ID=FEX9153&cID=212| title=The Coronation Crown Collection| publisher=Coincraft| access-date=14 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708174802/http://www.coincraft.com/catalog/displayitem.asp?ID=FEX9153&cID=212| archive-date=8 July 2011| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}} Three million bronze coronation medallions were ordered by the Canadian government, struck by the Royal Canadian Mint and distributed to schoolchildren across the country; the obverse showed Elizabeth's effigy and the reverse the royal cypher above the word CANADA, all circumscribed by ELIZABETH II REGINA CORONATA MCMLIII.{{Harvnb| McCreery| 2012| p=51}}

As at the coronation of George VI, acorns shed from oaks in Windsor Great Park, near Windsor Castle, were shipped around the Commonwealth and planted in parks, school grounds, cemeteries and private gardens to grow into what are known as Royal Oaks or Coronation Oaks.{{cite journal|last=Whiting| first=Marguerite| title=Royal Acorns| journal=Trillium| volume=Spring 2008| page=13| publisher=Ontario Horticultural Association| location=Parkhill| year=2008| url=http://www.gardenontario.org/docs/2008_Trillium_Spring.pdf| access-date=3 July 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121134633/http://www.gardenontario.org/docs/2008_Trillium_Spring.pdf| archive-date=21 November 2008 }}

File:Plaque beside tree which was planted in 1953 at the time of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.jpeg to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]]

File:DM3243-4-001.jpg

In London, the Queen hosted a coronation luncheon, for which the recipe coronation chicken was devised,{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2003/06/coronation_chicken_recipe.shtml| title=Coronation Chicken recipe| date=2 June 2003| publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation| access-date=19 December 2009}} and a fireworks show was mounted on Victoria Embankment. Further, street parties were mounted around the United Kingdom. The Coronation Cup football tournament was held at Hampden Park, Glasgow in May, and two weeks before the coronation, the children's literary magazine Collins Magazine rebranded itself as The Young Elizabethan.{{Cite book| last=Melman| first=Billie| title=The Culture of History: English Uses of the Past 1800–1953| publisher=Oxford University Press| date=2006| location=New York| page=284| isbn=978-0-19-929688-0}} News that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had reached the summit of Mount Everest arrived in Britain on Elizabeth's coronation day; the New Zealand, American, and British media dubbed it "a coronation gift for the new Queen".{{cite news| agency=Reuters| title=2 of British Team Conquer Everest| newspaper=The New York Times| page=1| date=2 June 1953| url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html| access-date=18 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015051229/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html|archive-date=15 October 2009}} In the following month, a pageant took place over the River Thames as a coronation tribute to the Queen.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP4m307ZP1o|title=Royal River Pageant (1953)|work=British Pathé|date=13 April 2014 |access-date=6 June 2022}}

File:Coronation Plantation - geograph.org.uk - 86621.jpg in south Wales, planted in the form of the letters ER (Elizabeth Regina) to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]]

Military tattoos, horse races, parades, and fireworks displays were mounted in Canada. The country's Governor General, Vincent Massey, proclaimed the day a national holiday and presided over celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where the Queen's coronation speech was broadcast and her personal royal standard flown from the Peace Tower.{{Harvnb| McCreery| 2012| p=50}}{{cite web| url=http://gov.ns.ca/iga/qpflag.asp| last=Government of Nova Scotia| title=The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II > The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag| publisher=Queen's Printer for Nova Scotia| access-date=29 February 2012}} Later, a public concert was held on Parliament Hill and the Governor General hosted a ball at Rideau Hall. In Newfoundland, 90,000 boxes of sweets were given to children, some having theirs delivered by Royal Canadian Air Force drops, and, in Quebec, 400,000 people turned out in Montreal, some 100,000 at Jeanne-Mance Park alone. A multicultural show was put on at Exhibition Place in Toronto, square dances and exhibitions took place in the Prairie provinces, and, in Vancouver, the Chinese community performed a public lion dance.{{Harvnb| Bousfield| 2002| pp=83–85}} On the Korean Peninsula, Canadian soldiers serving in the Korean War acknowledged the day by firing red, white, and blue coloured smoke shells at the enemy and drank rum rations.

A documentary film of the coronation, A Queen Is Crowned, narrated by Laurence Olivier, was one of the most popular films in British cinemas that year.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_32_Issue_3/page/n17|magazine=Screen|page=259|volume=32|issue=3|title=The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry|first=Janet|last=Thumim}} It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and was the first winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary Film.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1954 |title=The 26th Academy Awards (1954) Nominees and Winners |access-date=13 April 2023 |work=oscars.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093858/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/26th-winners.html |archive-date=6 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/39812/A-Queen-Is-Crowned/details |title=NY Times: A Queen Is Crowned |access-date=13 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521072528/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/39812/A-Queen-Is-Crowned/details |archive-date=21 May 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Winners & Nominees Documentary|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/documentary|website=GoldenGlobes.com|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association|access-date=13 April 2023}}

{{clear}}

File:Göta Lejon and Sverdlov Cruiser.jpg (right) and the Soviet Union (left) at the fleet review]]

On 15 June 1953, the Queen attended a fleet review at Spithead, off the coast at Portsmouth. Commanded by Admiral Sir George Creasy were 197 Royal Navy warships, together with 13 from the Commonwealth and 16 from foreign navies, as well as representative vessels from the British Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets.{{cite web |url=http://hmsgambia.org/Spithead.htm |title=Coronation Spithead Fleet Review 1953 |last=Thomas |first=Ray |date=January 2021 |website=hmsgambia.org |publisher= |access-date=30 June 2022}} There were more British and Commonwealth naval ships present than at the 1937 coronation review, though a third of them were frigates or smaller vessels. Major Royal Navy units included Britain's last battleship, {{HMS|Vanguard|23|6}}, and four fleet and three light aircraft carriers. The Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy also each included a light carrier in their contingents, {{HMAS|Sydney|R17|6}} and {{HMCS|Magnificent |CVL 21|6}}.{{cite book| last=Willmott| first=H P| date=2010| title=The Last Century of Sea Power: From Washington to Tokyo, 1922–1945| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AiIL5icXqMC&q=coronation+review+of+the+fleet+1953&pg=PA25| location=Bloomington| publisher=Indiana University Press| page=25| isbn=978-0-253-35214-9| access-date=29 July 2014}}

Using the frigate {{HMS|Surprise|K346|6}} as a royal yacht, the Queen and royal family started to review the lines of anchored ships at 3:30 p.m., finally anchoring at 5:10 p.m.{{cite web| url=http://cloudobservers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/05/07.-Jul-Spithead-Review-1953.pdf| title=Coronation Review of the Fleet| last=Day| first=A.| date=22 May 1953| publisher=Cloud Observers Association| access-date=3 May 2015}} This was followed by a fly-past of Fleet Air Arm aircraft. Forty naval air squadrons participated, with 327 aircraft flying from four naval air stations; the formation was led by Rear Admiral Walter Couchman flying a de Havilland Sea Vampire.{{cite book |last=Hobbs |first=David |date=2015 |title=The British Carrier Strike Fleet after 1945 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7bNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT127 |location=Barnsley |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |chapter=6. A Royal Occasion and the Radical Review |isbn=978-1526785442}} After the Queen transferred to Vanguard for dinner, the day concluded with the Illumination of the fleet and a fireworks display.

File:The Queen at the Scottish Parliament - crop.jpg]]

During a week-long visit to Scotland, on 24 June 1953, the Queen attended a national service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, during which she was ceremonially presented with the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels.{{cite web |url=https://www.royal.uk/queen-and-scotland |title=The Queen and Scotland |author= |date= |website=www.royal.uk |publisher=The Royal Household |access-date=23 June 2022}} Following a carriage procession through the city escorted by the Royal Company of Archers,{{cite web |url=https://www.qbgsrca.co.uk/history/queen-elizabeth-ii/ |title=The Royal Company in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II |author= |date= |website=www.qbgsrca.co.uk |publisher=The Royal Company of Archers |access-date=28 June 2022}} the service, led by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, James Pitt-Watson, was attended by a congregation of 1,700 drawn from all sections of Scottish society. The high point of the event was the presentation of the Honours, which the Queen received from the Dean of the Thistle, Charles Warr, and then passed the Crown of Scotland to the Duke of Hamilton, the Sword of State to the Earl of Home, and the Sceptre to the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres.{{cite web |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/401999 |title=HM The Queen receiving the Honours of Scotland, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, 24 June 1953 |author= |date= |website=www.rct.uk |publisher=The Royal Collection Trust |access-date=28 June 2022}} It was the first time that this ceremony had been enacted since 1822 during the visit of King George IV.

The Queen was dressed in "day clothes" complete with a handbag, rather than in ceremonial robes, which was taken as a slight to Scotland's dignity by the Scottish press.{{cite web |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12402268.life-lens-queen-scots-monarch-marks-80th-birthday-queen-will-celebrate-western-isles-cruise/ |title=A life in the lens for the Queen of Scots Monarch marks 80th birthday |author= |date=20 April 2006 |website=www.heraldscotland.com |publisher=Newsquest Media Group Ltd |access-date=28 June 2022}} The decision not to dress formally was made by the Private Secretary to the Sovereign, Sir Alan Lascelles, and Sir Austin Strutt, a senior civil servant at the Home Office, to avoid the service being interpreted as a coronation (the Kingdom of Scotland having ceased to exist upon the Acts of Union 1707). In the official painting of the ceremony by Stanley Cursiter, the offending handbag was tactfully omitted.Hennessy 2007, Ch. 5

On 15 July 1953, the Queen attended a review of the Royal Air Force at RAF Odiham in Hampshire.{{cite web |url=https://www.forces.net/services/raf/our-archive-raf-coronation-review-1953 |title=From Our Archive: RAF Coronation Review 1953 |author= |date=22 December 2016 |website=www.forces.net |publisher=British Forces Broadcasting Service |access-date=23 June 2022}} The first part of the review was a march past by contingents representing the various commands of the RAF, with Bomber Command leading. This was followed by four de Havilland Venoms of the Central Fighter Establishment making the Royal Cypher in skywriting. After lunch, the Queen in an open car toured the lines of some 300 aircraft that were arranged in a static display. She returned to the central dias for the flypast of 640 British and Commonwealth aircraft, of which 440 were jet-powered. The flypast was led by a Bristol Sycamore helicopter which was towing a large RAF Ensign, while the final aircraft was a prototype Supermarine Swift flown by test pilot Mike Lithgow. Finally, the skywriting Venoms spelled out the word "vivat".{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Keith |date=2022 |title=RAF in Camera: 100 Years on Display |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gER1EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation |pages=107–110 |isbn=978-1526752185}}

• List of participants in the coronation procession of Elizabeth II
• 1953 Coronation Honours
• The Queen's Beasts, heraldic statues placed outside Westminster Abbey representing Elizabeth's genealogy
• Canadian Coronation Contingent
• All the Elizabeths
• Coronation of Charles III and Camilla

{{Reflist|group="n"}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Clancy, Laura. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2019.1597710 "'Queen's Day – TV's Day': the British monarchy and the media industries"], Contemporary British History, vol. 33, no. 3 (2019), pp. 427–450.
• Feingold, Ruth P. "Every little girl can grow up to be queen: the coronation and The Virgin in the Garden." Literature & History 22.2 (2013): 73–90.
• {{cite book |last=Hennessy |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hennessy |date=2007 |title=Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-e8XDLDMPPQC&pg=PP202 |location=London |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0141004099}}
• Örnebring, Henrik. "Revisiting the Coronation: a Critical Perspective on the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953." Nordicom Review 25, no. 1-2 [http://www.nordicom.gu.se/sites/default/files/kapitel-pdf/157_175-196.pdf online](2004)
• Shils, Edward, and Michael Young. "The meaning of the coronation." The Sociological Review 1.2 (1953): 63–81.
• {{Cite book| last = Strong | first = Sir Roy|author-link=Roy Strong| title = Coronation: A History of Kingship and the British Monarchy | year = 2005 | location = London | isbn = 978-0-00-716054-9 | publisher = HarperCollins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OwWAQAAIAAJ}}
• Weight, Richard. Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940–2000 (Pan Macmillan, 2013) pp 211–56.

{{commons category|Coronation of Elizabeth II}}

• [https://www.oremus.org/coronation/1953/ Order of Service of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]
• [https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/5251/elizabeth-ii-coronation-1953-musicians.pdf Music and musicians at the coronation]
• [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/society/the-monarchy/canadas-new-queen/coronation-of-queen-elizabeth-ii.html Newsreel of the coronation]
• [http://ssa.nls.uk/search.cfm?search_term=coronation&search_fields=6&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes&subject=&location=&personality=&genre=&series=&fiction=&colour=&sound=&year_from=1953&year_to=1953&decade=&videos_only=1&search_mode=Advanced&submit=Search+%3E%3E%3E Videos of the celebrations]
• [http://www.nfb.ca/film/canada_at_coronation/ Canada at the Coronation (1953)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9g6h1YpZBQ Coronation model aids architects (1952)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5LL8xM85lA Elizabeth is Queen (1953)]

{{Elizabeth II}}

{{Coronation of the British monarch}}

{{London history}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II}}

Category:1953 in British television

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Category:1953 in London

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Elizabeth II

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