‘The Queen arrived early’ - memories of Elizabeth II’s Coronation
- Published
For many of us, the Coronation of King Charles III will be the first time we have ever seen a new monarch crowned in the UK. But for others, this is the second, or even third, coronation they have witnessed. Three people who attended the ceremony in 1953 share their memories of the day.
'The baker had to take me to the station'
Eve Morris stood out as she made her way to work in a pastel dress and white hat on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation. It was pouring with rain and "everybody was in rain gear", she recalls
Aged just 17 at the time, Eve's family didn't own a car. "So the baker had to take me to the railway station," she says.
Eve was an apprentice at fashion designer Sir Norman Hartnell's workroom in Mayfair. Sir Norman was Queen Elizabeth II's favourite couturier and had designed her wedding dress. Renowned for his use of embroidery, he had also been commissioned to create her lavish coronation gown.
On the day itself, Eve was based in Westminster Abbey with a needle and thread in her bag.
"If anybody lost a button, or a stitch came unstitched, I was there to do that," says Eve, "but fortunately it never happened."
A letter she received from the Duke of Norfolk, who was in charge of organising the coronation, included her instructions for the day. It read: "Please take sandwiches with you and a flask, as coffee will not be available."
Queen Elizabeth II's coronation dress was encrusted with thousands of seed pearls, sequins and crystals
Based opposite the Royal box in the Abbey, Eve had a great view of the Queen in her finery. It was a "lovely position", she remembers, "better than a seat really."
In the weeks before the big day, Eve had worked as a runner in the workroom. "I had to go to the stockroom to find the suitable silks to match the embroidery," says Eve.
She and a colleague had also been tasked with carrying the heavy coronation gown back and forth in a dust sheet - from the embroidery workshop at one end of the street, to the dressmaker's workshop at the other.
Eve, now 87, will be keeping her eyes peeled on the gowns at King Charles III's Coronation. "I shall be more critical than most," she says.
For Eve, Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation gown "beats any of the other dresses lately".
'The Queen arrived a little early'
As a 15-year-old scholar at Westminster School, Gavin Ross knew he would have a role to play in the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II when George VI died suddenly in 1952.
Since 1685, the task of heralding the new monarch in Westminster Abbey - with shouts in Latin of "Vivat Regina!" (Long live the Queen) or "Vivat Rex!" (Long Live the King) - had fallen to the school's scholars.
"In 1902, Edward VII wanted a proper coronation with good music," says Gavin, "and so the composer, Hubert Parry, composed the anthem, "I was Glad". Halfway through, the piece of music stops, and the scholars shout "Vivat!" to acclaim the new king or queen.
The same piece of music was used in 1953, and Gavin remembers arriving two hours before the ceremony started to be in place ready.
He was taken up to the triforium, the gallery high above the Abbey floor, "60ft (18m) up on the right hand side above the throne," he says.
Gavin sat high up in the gods at Westminster Abbey
The extensive rehearsals had focused on ensuring their "musical shout" was noisy enough.
"Even though there were 40 of us," says Gavin, being so high up, "it wouldn't necessarily be heard very well unless we shouted very loud."
Gavin didn't feel nervous, but remembers the timing didn't go exactly to plan.
"The Queen arrived a little early in the music," says Gavin, "so she'd already got quite a way in before we shouted... Vivat Regina Elizabetha!"
There was a real optimism at the time, says Gavin. It was post-war, and with a young Queen on the throne, "rationing had ended [for some products] and various things were opening up, opportunities for people, and it was a different world from today," he says.
Now 85, Gavin will be keeping a close eye on this particular part of King Charles's Coronation. Westminster Abbey has released the words and music, external of the Vivat acclamations and, for the first time, they will be sung by girls as well as boys.
'You had to pay two guineas for your gold staff'
Sir Simon Bowes-Lyon will have witnessed three coronations following the ceremony of King Charles III.
He was just four years old in 1937 when he watched the Coronation procession of George VI and his aunt, Queen Elizabeth - later known as the Queen Mother - from a bedroom window at Buckingham Palace. Sir Simon's childhood memories of the day include the "very nice scrambled egg" for breakfast and "gold coach and all the horses".
In 1953, then aged 20, he was invited to Westminster Abbey to see his first cousin, Queen Elizabeth II crowned. Initially, he was asked to be an usher, and according to instructions, would need to meet the costs of his travel, accommodation and purchase a gold staff to carry.
"You had to pay two guineas for your gold staff," he says.
However, in the end, when his family were offered seats, he didn't have to work and could watch with the rest of the congregation. The dress code was still formal though.
"Court dress is velvet coat and breeches, with cut steel buttons, a ruffle and a white waistcoat," says Sir Simon. "It's very, very smart."
After the service had finished, Sir Simon and his sister went back to their London flat, changed clothes and joined the "happy, noisy crowd" that were cheering and waving flags in the streets. He also saw the newly crowned Queen appear on the balcony at the palace.
The new Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh greeted crowds from the palace balcony
His family were able to purchase some keepsakes from the 1937 and 1953 coronations, including the chairs the family had sat on in Westminster Abbey.
"They are very comfortable," says Sir Simon, and still sat on to this day at the family home in Hertfordshire. With the coronation service lasting almost three hours, a comfortable chair was a necessity.
Sir Simon says his family also bought some of the carpet that had been used on the steps into the Abbey.
"I think we replaced it about 10 years ago, so it would have lasted 60 years," he says. "But things have to last that long here. We don't replace carpets unless we have to."
Now 90, Sir Simon hopes King Charles III's Coronation "gives rise to a lot of celebration".
Watch more memories of the 1953 coronation on BBC Breakfast and BBC News at Six on Friday 5 May.
- Published6 May 2023
- Published6 May 2023
- Published6 May 2023
