painted by
Sir Herbert James Gunn 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.
Television 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. The number of
licence holders doubled from approximately one and a half million to three million. 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. 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, as well as those filming with experimental
3D technology. 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. 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. '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, seeing
RAF Canberras fly BBC
film recordings of the ceremony across the
Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), 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. 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 and at considerably lower cost, followed by NBC which had made a last-minute deal with ABC. However, the Canadian broadcast was the first in North America, viewers in eastern Canada watching the ceremony a half hour before Americans did. The worldwide television audience for the coronation was estimated to be 277 million. Additionally, 11 million in the UK listened to the broadcast on radio.
Procession Along a route lined with sailors, soldiers, and airmen and women from across the
British Empire and Commonwealth, For those not present, more than 200 microphones were stationed along the path and in
Westminster Abbey, with 750 commentators broadcasting in 39 languages. Attached to the shoulders of her dress, the Queen wore the Robe of State, a 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—to carry. The return procession followed a route that was 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 long and took 45 minutes to pass any given point. A further 15,800 lined the route. 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. 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. So many carriages were required that some had to be borrowed from
Elstree Studios. After the end of the procession, the royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a
flypast. 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.
Guests 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
British Empire and
Commonwealth of Nations; 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, 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. 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. 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. Guests seated on stools were able to purchase their stools following the ceremony, with the profits going towards the cost of the coronation.
Ceremony (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, 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. 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. , 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, to each of which the Queen would curtsey in return. 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, Elizabeth returned the book to Pitt-Watson, who placed it back with the dean of Westminster. , 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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!" 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. 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.
Music 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The final complement of choristers comprised 182 boy trebles, 37 male altos, 62 tenors and 67 basses. ==Celebrations, monuments, and media==