Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and King George VI on the balcony at Buckingham Palace May 12, 1937 after the coronation of King George VI.Photo: Getty Images
As the world counts down to thecoronationofKing CharlesandQueen Camillaon May 6, the royal family is sharing recollections of crowning ceremonies of the past — includingQueen Elizabeth’s handwritten notes about the1937 coronationof her father King George VI and mother Queen Elizabeth.
The royal family’s official social media pages shared then-Princess Elizabeth’s thoughts on the ceremony that she attended as an 11-year-old girl.
“The Coronation,” she wrote in red pencil on lined loose-leaf paper. “12th May, 1937.”
“To Mummy and Papa, In Memory of Their Coronation,” she continued, adding “From Lilibet, By Herself” with an underline, using her family nickname thatPrince HarryandMeghan Markleused fortheir daughter, who will turn 2 next month.
In another image, the futureQueen Elizabeth, whose70-year reign was the United Kingdom’s longest, shared personal details from her father’s coronation in immaculate script.
Later in the letter, the princess gave some insight into how a royal family spends their final moments at home before a coronation, focusing on a detailed account of everyone’s grand gowns.
“Now I shall try and give you a description of our dresses,” she wrote. “They were white silk with old cream lace and had little gold bows all the way down the middle. They had puffed sleeves with one little bow in the centre. Then there were the robes of purple velvet with gold on the edges.”
“We went along to Mummy’s bedroom, and we found her putting on her dress,” she continued, referring toQueen Elizabeth, who later used the title theQueen Motherwhen her daughter acceded to the throne.
“Papa was dressed in a white shirt, breeches and stockings, and over this he wore a crimson satin coat. Then a page came and said it was his time to go down, so we kissed Mummy, and wished her good luck and went down. There we said good morning to Aunt Alice, Aunt Marina and Aunt Mary with whom we were to drive to the Abbey,” she continued, referring to Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (who was married to her uncle, Prince Henry), Princess Marina (who was married to her uncle,Prince George) and Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, who was the only daughter of King George V andQueen Elizabeth.
Once they began the journey to Westminster Abbey — the same place where her son, King Charles, will beofficially crowned kingon May 6 — the future monarch admitted the ride was “jolty, but we soon got used to it.”
Elsewhere, the future monarch looked on with childlike wonder at the ceremony, adding that she thought Westminster Abbey itself approved of the new monarch. “I thought it was all very, very wonderful and I expect the Abbey did too. The arches and beams at the top [was] covered with a sort of haze of wonder as Papa was Crowned, or at least I thought so.”
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Prince Charles, then 4, was too young to write down his memories of his mother’s 1953 coronation. At the time, the young prince was the first-ever child in British history to witness his mother become crowned Queen(as opposed to Queen Consort).
The Instagram account also posted King George V’s recollections of his own 1911 coronation. Calling it a “great and memorable day,” he admitted that it brought back “many sad memories of 9 years ago when the beloved Parents were crowned,” referring to the short-lived reign of his late parents, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria.
But back in 1902 when he was a young prince, the future King George V wrote that his parents' coronation was “most beautifully done & the singing and music was very fine, and it was a magnificent spectacle.”
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Queen Victoria’s memories of her own 1838 coronation were also shared.
“It was a fine day, & the crowds of people exceeded what I have ever seen, being even much greater than when I went to the City,” she said. “I really cannot say how proud I felt to be the Queen of such a nation.”
source: people.com
