Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 'was a kaleidoscope of events'
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The late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the late Duke Of Edinburgh on Coronation day in 1953
"The entire world was in London for that coronation."
The Queen of Tonga in her open carriage, an incident with Sir Winston Churchill and a new queen - all seen from the eyes of a 14-year-old schoolboy from Greenisland in County Antrim.
On 2 June 1953, Chris Wilson watched the world go by in a "kaleidoscope of events" on the Mall.
He was surrounded by crowds who had travelled see the crowning of a young Queen Elizabeth II.
"For weeks before coronation day, families were camping on the footpaths along the processional route," he told BBC News NI.
Chris, who went on to become a headteacher in Limavady, travelled to the coronation from Northern Ireland with his aunt by sea and rail.
Chris Wilson with his wife Roberta in Austria
On the day of the coronation, they hired a pre-war taxi with a soft top which folded back to give an open-top view.
"We spent at least three hours crawling along with, what was even then, almost gridlocked cars and buses."
The trip was worth it because Chris had a prime seat on the processional route.
He had a green ticket for stand 47, block three, row G, seat number 20 in the Mall.
"From my stand looking down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace there stretched on the roadway what appeared to be a black Persian deep-pile carpet," he said.
That carpet turned out to be the bearskin headdress of a guardsman.
A map showing the location of numbered stands along the coronation procession route in 1953
'Singing in the rain'
Roving reporters were asking people for their favourite songs.
According to Chris, the film of that month was Singing In The Rain and loud speakers carried it all over central London.
A lady who made a great impression and stole the show was Sālote Tupou III of Tonga.
"She was very tall and regal. Even in the heavy rain she travelled in an open carriage with only a colourful parasol for shelter."
Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga riding past crowds of people along the Thames Embankment, on her way to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
It was there that Chris witnessed what would become a moment in history.
"As Sir Winston Churchill's carriage was passing its two horses took fright and reared up," he said.
"A number of police officers ran forward to control them with Sir Winston leaning out of the carriage and using quite strong Anglo-Saxon language."
He said Sir Winston "ordered the police to open a way through the crowd".
Chris Wilson was witness to a moment in history involving Sir Winston Churchill's horses
When the procession had passed, Chris and the throngs made their way along The Mall to Buckingham Palace.
"We stood outside the railings and chanted: 'We want the Queen.'
"The young queen, her consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, and all the other members of the Royal Family made at least seven balcony calls as RAF aircraft roared overhead in salute to a new Elizabethan era," remembers Chris.
When Chris went back to Belfast High School, his teacher had told the class that he had actually gone to the coronation to marry Princess Margaret.
"I knew he had got the story wrong - but I still had quite a story to tell my school friends and my relatives."
'Connection to my childhood'
David Scott has been collecting royal memorabilia all his life
David Scott, from Rathfriland, County Down, has been collecting royal memorabilia and camping out for royal events since the 1980s, an interest inspired by his late mother.
At the age of 12, she was selected to represent Drumlough Primary School when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth [the Queen Mother] visited Balmoral near Belfast.
She went on to build up a collection of royal memorabilia and David has kept up the tradition.
David Scott's mother was selected to meet King George VI on a royal visit to Balmoral, Belfast, in 1937
He was present when Queen Elizabeth II was shot at during the 1981 Trooping of the Colour, as she was mounted on her favourite horse Burmese.
"Standing outside Clarence House, I remember the ripple effect of the word coming up The Mall," he said.
Newspaper headlines from the day of the coronation
He has subsequently been to London for a number of royal events - he camped out to see Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's wedding in 1986 and Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.
"That was quite an experience because the other events were happy but this was the first sombre occasion - to witness it all was incredibly historic."
A souvenir programme from the coronation 70 years ago
He took his family over to see the wedding of William and Catherine, the current Prince and Princess of Wales.
"To take your own family to experience that was really special as I was witnessing the next generation, the future monarch's wedding.
"I collect anything I see that's unique or different - a royal collection isn't worth a lot of money - it's a very affordable thing to do.
"It's more than a royal collection, it's a connection to my childhood and it's preserving aspects of royal history."
David Scott inherited his mother's royal collection and has added to it since
One of David's most treasured items is a recording of the 1953 coronation.
"The authenticity, the sound of the needle going across the vinyl - it somehow transports you back," he said.
"I sometimes think of how families may have gathered round the wireless to listen to the Coronation and now 70 years later they will be gathered around 60-inch plasmas and it will be colour and wall-to-wall coverage.
"On Saturday I will be glued to the TV - my generation has only ever known one monarch so this is our opportunity to witness history in the making," he added.
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- Published9 September 2022
