Queen Elizabeth II: Coventry man recalls leading Coronation parade

Former Royal Horse Guard corporal Tony Hendry led the Coronation procession with three troopers

A former member of the Royal Horse Guards, who led Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation procession, has said he failed to realise the significance of his duty until after it was over.

Tony Hendry, 93, of Stoke Aldermoor, Coventry, who served as a corporal, led the procession to Westminster Abbey.

"At the time I didn't really think about it, but when you look back I think it was quite an honour," he said.

He added he would "never forget the roar of the crowd".

"We led the Coronation which means I was a mile and a half in front of the Queen," he explained.

The 93-year-old was a corporal in the Royal Horse Guards

He then described waiting for the procession to start alongside three other troopers from the Blues regiment, with their "distinctive tunics and red plumed helmets".

"With no personal radios, orders were issued via speakers strung along the trees in Park Lane," he explained.

"They gave some instruction to start and the band behind us went 'bang'."

He added the noise frightened a trooper's horse.

"He lost his helmet and a bobby rushed forward, picked it up and gave it to him before the Coronation procession could start," he said.

The Royal Horse Guards rode ahead of the Queen in the procession

The event on 2 June was watched by more than 20 million people on television, with many camping out on The Mall to catch a glimpse of the procession.

After the ceremony, he said: "To be quite honest, I went back to the barracks to bed. I was shattered, we'd been up since four in the morning for rehearsals.

"I don't really think I did [realise the significance]. It's just a job to be done. And that's how one remembers the Queen - duty."

He said his association with the Royals went back to when he "took the King's shilling" - signing up as a young man under the Queen's father, King George VI, before being stationed at Windsor, which is where he married his wife.

"We had our reception in the castle, but it was fairly plain. It wasn't St George's Hall, it was in what they called the steward's refreshment room," he said.

He said he did meet the Queen on a couple of occasions when he was invited to Buckingham Palace with the regiment.

"She's a wonderful woman, there's no doubt about that. She was, as she said at the time, going to do her duty and she did.

"I'm afraid we'll never be the same as we were, but then it's a different world, and I think Charles will make a great king.

"It's not until you look back that you realise what you've been doing, and you take a pride in yourself.

"We were privileged, we weren't men we were gentlemen."

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