0:00:05 > 0:00:09Just before 10:30 on the morning of June 2nd, 1953,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh set off in style
0:00:12 > 0:00:17from Buckingham Palace, a 30-minute drive through the streets of London.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Their destination was here - Westminster Abbey.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29The place had been closed for five months
0:00:29 > 0:00:32to prepare for a service that would last just two hours.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37The service was the Coronation of the 27-year-old Queen Elizabeth...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44..a service which dates back 1,000 years.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47This is a guide book to a Coronation?
0:00:47 > 0:00:50- This is how you have to do it? - This is an instruction manual,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53it simply goes through the whole process.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54This is actually what you have to do.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00For centuries, witnessing the Coronation service had been
0:01:00 > 0:01:02the preserve of the privileged few.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05But in 1953, Britain was a different country
0:01:05 > 0:01:07and change was afoot.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11For the first time in history,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14through the medium of television, the ancient and noble rite
0:01:14 > 0:01:19of a Coronation service will be witnessed by millions of Her Majesty's subjects.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23I think we all knew it was a very momentous occasion.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Well, none of us had ever seen a whole Coronation before.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Never had cameras in on the most intimate part of it.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34But letting the people into the Abbey through the window of television
0:01:34 > 0:01:36didn't come without a fight.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40There will not be what television people
0:01:40 > 0:01:46probably are getting used to - the ordinary close-up.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48That will not be done.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52I was a young teenager at the time,
0:01:52 > 0:01:57one of hundreds of thousands of people who lined these streets on Coronation Day.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00But the Coronation wasn't just about London.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07All over Britain, people made their own plans to celebrate,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10in their own way, the crowning of their young Queen.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14It was something that was a historic event
0:02:14 > 0:02:15and that they wanted to be in,
0:02:15 > 0:02:20to have a sense of the history of it and to have participated in it.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Participating meant feasts,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26and that meant finding a way round food rationing,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29still in force from the war.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33I got two of these ox sandwiches - two - and I was over the moon!
0:02:36 > 0:02:40It was the first big celebration we'd had since war ended.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The Coronation story begins in February, 1952,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19with the death of the 56-year-old King George VI.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27The King's body was taken from Sandringham in Norfolk, where he had died,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30to Westminster Hall in London, where he would lie in state.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37RICHARD DIMBLEBY COMMENTATES: 'There lies the coffin of the King.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42'The oak of Sandringham hidden beneath the rich,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43'golden folds of the Standard.'
0:03:48 > 0:03:52This plaque marks the spot where the King's coffin lay, and over
0:03:52 > 0:03:58the next four days, 300,000 people filed past to pay their respects.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The King's daughter Elizabeth became Queen the moment that he died,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08but she wouldn't be crowned for another 16 months,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12and these people who came here in this February gloom would be back
0:04:12 > 0:04:15to share in the excitement of the Coronation.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I remember visits to London in the early '50s -
0:04:28 > 0:04:30a very different scene from today.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Eight years after the defeat of Germany,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41many of Britain's cities still bore the scars of war.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48Wherever you looked, there were ruined buildings and bomb craters.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54It was a time of austerity, with food rationed.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00The city air hung heavy with smoke from chimneys and cigarettes
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and steam trains -
0:05:02 > 0:05:07smoke which could merge with fog to make the streets impenetrable.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Britain was pretty much knocked flat by the war, but things began,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16quite quickly, to pick up,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and there were events to cheer the country -
0:05:18 > 0:05:23the Olympic Games in 1948 and then the Festival of Britain in 1951.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29I remember coming to it as a boy here on the South Bank, seeing the great Skylon reaching up so high,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34and the Dome of Discovery, full of the things we'd done in the past and were going to do in the future.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36In other words, saying to the nation,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38"Cheer up, we're on our way".
0:05:48 > 0:05:52A monarch who was both a woman and a young mother
0:05:52 > 0:05:54came to symbolise a fresh start for Britain.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04She and the Duke of Edinburgh were a glamorous couple.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07For all but the staunchest republicans, she represented
0:06:07 > 0:06:12what the country hoped for - the optimism of a new Elizabethan age.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19As Coronation fever mounted, 5,000 people took to the floor
0:06:19 > 0:06:24of the Empress Hall in London for a new dance - "Waltz For A Queen".
0:06:29 > 0:06:35Britain was once again being led by the former wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40His challenge was to make sure the Coronation outshone the great Festival of Britain
0:06:40 > 0:06:43organised by the previous Labour government.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49The Royal Mint was soon spilling out the shiny new coinage
0:06:49 > 0:06:51stamped with the Queen's head.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55In truth, money was in short supply,
0:06:55 > 0:07:01but a country bankrupt from the war still found £1.5 million
0:07:01 > 0:07:05from the public purse to pay for the Coronation.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08That's £36 million in today's money.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27The Coronation was fixed for the 2nd of June, 1953.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29No question about the venue -
0:07:29 > 0:07:34Westminster Abbey had seen the Coronation of every monarch
0:07:34 > 0:07:37for almost 1,000 years, ever since 1066.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51The preparations for the 1953 Coronation were so extensive
0:07:51 > 0:07:56that the Abbey had to be closed to the public for a full five months before the event.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02This great Abbey was turned into a building site.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07The statues on either side were shrouded in cloth and boxed in.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11These huge pillars were all boxed in, the organ was boxed in,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14the floor was covered and a railway line was laid
0:08:14 > 0:08:17from the west end right up to the east
0:08:17 > 0:08:21so that they could create a theatre for the Coronation.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27The spectacle demanded an audience far bigger than a normal congregation.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30The Abbey can normally seat about 2,000 people for a service,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34but for the Coronation, it had to fit in over 8,000.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Here, for instance, they built seats in layers
0:08:38 > 0:08:41right up just under that window.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And notices put up all round for the 200 or so workers, saying,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47"Remember this is a sacred place,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"please be reverent in your demeanour".
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The Coronation service was to follow a traditional pattern.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11It had been adapted over the centuries,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14but its origins can be found in the library at the Abbey.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20This is one of the most extraordinary books in the library.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22From the 14th century, it's the Liber Regalis,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and it tells you how to crown a king.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30How to crown a king, or a king and queen together, or just a queen.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34- It's beautifully illustrated. - And beautifully written.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Would these illustrations be purely decorative, or are they to act
0:09:39 > 0:09:43as a kind of reminder of how it should look when it's done?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45I think they're more instructive than decorative.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48There's no reason for decoration in a book like this.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Coronations have happened in Westminster Abbey ever since
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Harold's Coronation on January 6th, 1066,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00and then William the Conqueror on Christmas Day later that year.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Is what it says here pretty well what happened
0:10:05 > 0:10:09- at the Coronation in '53? - The whole pattern is fixed.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15First of all, a pulpit, a stage, is prepared between the high altar
0:10:15 > 0:10:19and the choir of the Church of St Peter, Westminster.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22So this is a sort of guide book to a Coronation,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- this is how you have to do it? - It's an instruction manual.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27It simply goes through the whole process.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30This is actually what you have to do.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36'The Queen, escorted as ancient tradition demands,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40'by the Bishops of Durham and Bath and Wells...
0:10:41 > 0:10:43'..goes to the altar.'
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So when in the Coronation service they say,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49"And by tradition, the Bishop of Bath and Wells
0:10:49 > 0:10:53"and the Bishop of Durham on either side of the Queen",
0:10:53 > 0:10:55it's here, it's because of this book?
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- It's because it was done from 1066 onwards?- Yes.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Here is the image of the Coronation of the King.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Here are the two bishops either side.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08That's always the Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11'The Dean of Westminster brings from the altar
0:11:11 > 0:11:16'the Golden Spurs of chivalry, so that the Lord Great Chamberlain,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'the Marquess of Cholmondeley, can offer them to Her Majesty to touch.'
0:11:20 > 0:11:22When you watch the Coronation service,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26you see particular people holding things.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27Is all that laid down in here, too?
0:11:27 > 0:11:29I mean, I think there's a bit in here
0:11:29 > 0:11:33where the sovereign has to be washed naked so that their skin
0:11:33 > 0:11:35glistens, but clearly those two things didn't happen!
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Some details of that kind don't happen.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41But essentially, the pattern is the same.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52While the Church was busy dealing with the religious elements of the service,
0:11:52 > 0:11:58the organisation of the Coronation was the responsibility of the Earl Marshal - Bernard, Duke of Norfolk.
0:12:02 > 0:12:0716 years earlier, he had masterminded the Coronation of the Queen's father George VI,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11and he was well aware that in this complex ritual,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13things could easily go wrong,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16as they had from time to time in the past.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21This is a painting of Queen Victoria's Coronation.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23It lasted five hours,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26not least because one of the bishops told her it was over when it wasn't
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and she had to come back to the throne and finish it off.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Then there were other incidents -
0:12:31 > 0:12:36an elderly peer called Lord Rolle was climbing the steps to the throne to do homage
0:12:36 > 0:12:39when he fell, and in Queen Victoria's words,
0:12:39 > 0:12:40"rolled down the steps".
0:12:40 > 0:12:46And then the Coronation ring had been made too small for her fourth finger.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47The Archbishop forced it on,
0:12:47 > 0:12:52and when she got back to Buckingham Palace, she had to dip it in a basin of ice to get it off,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54and said in her diary, "It was very painful".
0:12:57 > 0:13:02In the 1937 Coronation, there were new pressures to cope with.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Cinema newsreels were now allowed to film the Coronation,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09which meant any mistakes would be seen by a wide audience.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18There were some slip-ups recorded during the crowning of George VI.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Before the service, a thread had been attached to the front of the St Edward crown
0:13:24 > 0:13:28so the Archbishop could see which way to put it on.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32But at some point, the thread had been inadvertently removed,
0:13:32 > 0:13:37leaving the poor Archbishop struggling to work out the front from the back.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42But in 1937, the Earl Marshal had the means to prevent Coronation mistakes,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44or anything he thought unsuitable,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46from being seen by the public.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50At midnight, on the day of the Coronation,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55the King and the 29-year-old Earl Marshal, who had arranged the whole ceremony,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59sat together and watched the film and decided which bits
0:13:59 > 0:14:03we should be allowed to see and which bits should be cut out.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06For instance, they decided that the most sacred moments,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the Holy Communion service, for instance, should be excluded.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15But they also took out footage, rather touching footage,
0:14:15 > 0:14:21of King George's mother Queen Mary crying because she was so moved.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24So in effect, what was happening was the establishment was
0:14:24 > 0:14:27censoring the Coronation ceremony.
0:14:32 > 0:14:38'We've got three cameras working today, and they're linked up to our new television vans...'
0:14:38 > 0:14:41An innovation at the 1937 Coronation
0:14:41 > 0:14:44was the first live television coverage.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'Queen Mary in her State Coach.'
0:14:47 > 0:14:50There were no live television cameras in the Abbey.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56The BBC showed just a part of the procession using three live cameras at Hyde Park Corner.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04'Eight magnificent greys drawing up that almost unbelievable State Coach
0:15:04 > 0:15:07'with Their Majesties, the King and Queen.'
0:15:08 > 0:15:11The television audience was only 50,000 people,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16limited to those who lived within a 60-mile radius of the BBC's transmitter
0:15:16 > 0:15:18at Alexandra Palace in London.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29In spite of the new technology, only a privileged few had been invited to Westminster Abbey
0:15:29 > 0:15:31to watch the Coronation as it happened.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Would it be the same story in 1953?
0:15:38 > 0:15:40As Coronation Day approached,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44this was the hottest ticket in town, an invitation By Command Of The Queen
0:15:44 > 0:15:47to be present at the Abbey for the Coronation service.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50If you accepted, you got your seat ticket,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53this one from the Earl of Denbigh, the Duchess of Argyll,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55the Lord Moynihan.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57But a whole book was produced showing who had come.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59And it's very interesting reading,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03the first thousand guests are all members of the aristocracy -
0:16:03 > 0:16:07earls and duchesses and barons and marchionesses and all the rest.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Politicians, the House of Commons, lots of foreign dignitaries,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19ambassadors, people from the Commonwealth.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21The Army, the Navy - everyone you would expect - the judges...
0:16:21 > 0:16:23all the establishment, in effect.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27And then, at the very back,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30a sort of attempt to widen out the range of people who were there,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34so the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive are there,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37the National Coal Board, the Road Haulage Executive
0:16:37 > 0:16:40AND the Trades Union Congress.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44So it was an attempt to broaden out the congregation a bit.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49But for the public at large, there was hope.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53The BBC - at the time the only television broadcaster in Britain -
0:16:53 > 0:16:57was planning to use 21 cameras on the day.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04This time, they asked to have five of the cameras inside the Abbey,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08broadcasting the actual Coronation ceremony live.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13At first, they got a dusty answer from the Earl Marshal.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Eight months before the Coronation,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21the Earl Marshal announced that live television would be allowed
0:17:21 > 0:17:25inside the Abbey to watch the Coronation, on one condition,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29and that condition was this - the Abbey is divided into two.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33The length of the nave here, and then this great screen which
0:17:33 > 0:17:37separates it from the other half of the Abbey up towards the altar.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It's up there that the Coronation service itself took place.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45The Earl Marshal's decision was that the television cameras
0:17:45 > 0:17:48could watch this part of the service, the processions,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52but here and no further. In other words,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56the television viewer would be able to see the Queen coming in and going out,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00but absolutely nothing of the Coronation service itself.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It was fear that live television would put too great a strain
0:18:07 > 0:18:12on the young Queen, at the centre of such complex ritual,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15that seems to have been the reason behind the ban.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19This could so easily have become the Coronation we never got to see.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25When they heard the news that television wasn't going to be allowed in, the BBC was dismayed,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and they wrote to the Dean of Westminster, explaining television
0:18:28 > 0:18:31would not be a problem, wouldn't get in the way of the ceremony.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36But if the BBC was dismayed, the national press was outraged.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39They saw this as a sort of denial of democracy.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42They did a poll showing that over three quarters of people
0:18:42 > 0:18:44wanted to see the Coronation.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Who were these courtiers, they asked,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48making these ridiculous objections?
0:18:48 > 0:18:50And if none of them would make up their minds in favour,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54then the Queen herself had to intervene on behalf of her people
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and say, I agree, my Coronation should be seen by everybody.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04As pressure built up, there was a quick rethink at the top,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08and the establishment gave way to public demand.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14At a press conference, the Earl Marshal spelt out the new rules of engagement.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20The television has been arranged...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24..and approved by the Queen...
0:19:26 > 0:19:32..and I would like to emphasise that there will not be
0:19:32 > 0:19:38what television people probably are getting used to -
0:19:38 > 0:19:42the ordinary close-up. That will not be done.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47So, television had finally been given a front-row seat, even if it
0:19:47 > 0:19:49couldn't take close-ups.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54Television manufacturers spotted a winner and moved in for the kill.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Murphy was one of the big manufacturers at the time,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and this is their advertisement from the Radio Times
0:20:01 > 0:20:06at the beginning of 1953. It's headed, "you have been warned".
0:20:06 > 0:20:11"A lot of people (you?) are thinking about a TV set for the Coronation.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13"Now comes the sad bit.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17"A great many of you (you?) are going to be disappointed.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19"There will be a great rush in April and May
0:20:19 > 0:20:23"and there won't be either enough sets or enough time to install them.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27"The usual clever dicks will cry out that this is just
0:20:27 > 0:20:30"an advertising sales stunt,
0:20:30 > 0:20:36"but to all sensible people, we say, see your Murphy dealer soon."
0:20:39 > 0:20:43No-one knew, at first, what the audience for the Coronation would be.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49A basic television set at the time cost between £1,500-£2,000
0:20:49 > 0:20:50in today's money.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58On the other hand, as the spider's web of television reception
0:20:58 > 0:21:02spread across the country, the potential audience was huge.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10When Coronation Day dawns, the streets of London will be packed with
0:21:10 > 0:21:14thousands of people, thousands more eagerly scan the papers
0:21:14 > 0:21:17to see the latest photograph of the Queen or the Royal Family
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and to keep up with the latest details of this great event.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Coronation fever gripped the nation, if the newspapers,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30broadcasting and the newsreels are anything to go by.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35But how accurately did they reflect feeling in the country as a whole?
0:21:40 > 0:21:43There is no better place to test the temperature of the nation at the time
0:21:43 > 0:21:47than the archives of a group called Mass Observation,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50which are held here at Sussex University.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Mass Observation used volunteers to record the everyday thoughts
0:21:56 > 0:22:00of people about the issues of the time,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01eavesdropping on the nation.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07This is the extraordinary archive of Mass Observation.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Boxes and boxes full of questions asked of ordinary people
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and answered about what they think of all kinds of things -
0:22:14 > 0:22:17about drinking, about money, about budgets,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and here, about the Coronation, telling us
0:22:20 > 0:22:24not what the newspapers thought, what the broadcasters thought,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27but what the ordinary people of Britain themselves thought.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I think there was enthusiasm.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I think that enthusiasm built over time.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48At the beginning of the year,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52a majority of people planned not to be involved in the Coronation.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55As the event became closer,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59more people decided that they DID want to be involved.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14I think people began to feel that it was something that was
0:23:14 > 0:23:17a historic event, and that they wanted to be in,
0:23:17 > 0:23:22to have a sense of the history of it and to have participated in it as a piece of history.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35There was grumbling -
0:23:35 > 0:23:39there was grumbling about the commercialisation of it,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42there was grumbling about the money that was being spent
0:23:42 > 0:23:45by the state that could be spent on something else.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Here's a grumbler - "I think far too much money is being spent on the Coronation.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52"Only people who are fairly well-off will be able to have a seat on the route.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56"Most middle-class people couldn't afford to pay the price."
0:23:56 > 0:23:58- I was a lucky one, I had a seat. - SHE CHUCKLES
0:23:58 > 0:24:03This is a 15-year-old girl telling us her views on the Coronation.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07She says she's rather tired of hearing Coronation talk everywhere,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and she's sick of not being able to go into a shop
0:24:10 > 0:24:12without seeing something to do with the Coronation.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22"Everything you handle is red, white and blue.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24"It gives me the impression that the Coronation is being
0:24:24 > 0:24:26"made into a commercial racket."
0:24:27 > 0:24:32One must observe a complaint that even a two-pound bag of tomatoes was being sold
0:24:32 > 0:24:34in a Coronation-themed paper bag.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38In here is some of the - for want of a better word -
0:24:38 > 0:24:43tat that some of the schoolchildren were being critical of.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48United Dairies, for example, with their God Save The Queen paper bag.
0:24:48 > 0:24:55Here, for example, is a Coronation crown, which is rather beautiful.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Except that it advertises Oxo, not the Coronation.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03- Yes, but that's all right! - "Oxo Cube makes it meatier".
0:25:03 > 0:25:09- And you wore it for the...party, for your street party.- It suits you.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11It does suit me.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18There's a lot of talk about food.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22This is a point in British history where food loomed quite large
0:25:22 > 0:25:25because of the rationing that people have been
0:25:25 > 0:25:28experiencing for a very long time.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33"I'm sure that we will have a lovely meal with the potato crisps
0:25:33 > 0:25:36"and margarine that we are being allowed."
0:25:36 > 0:25:38"That we're being ALLOWED." A treat.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It was interesting the way in which everybody clubs together
0:25:41 > 0:25:45on this day, so it's a festival of food, people bringing stuff.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48"One family brought a whole bucketful of fruit salad."
0:25:48 > 0:25:51- Doesn't sound very appealing, does it?- No, it doesn't.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54What was that bucket being used for before?!
0:25:54 > 0:25:57"Orange Squash, cider and tonic water to make a punch."
0:26:03 > 0:26:06In the lead-up to the Coronation, celebrations were
0:26:06 > 0:26:10constrained by the restrictions on food consumption -
0:26:10 > 0:26:15rationing, retained by Government as part of the post-war austerity.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18In 1953, rationing was really serious business.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22It was illegal to buy more meat a week than would make
0:26:22 > 0:26:26a medium-sized hamburger or two lamb chops, perhaps.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29So along comes the Coronation, and some people want to celebrate
0:26:29 > 0:26:32in the traditional way, by having an ox roast.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36They can't - they're not allowed to use that amount of meat.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39What do they have to do? They have to get permission from the man in Whitehall,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43and finally the whole subject is debated here in the House of Commons.
0:26:43 > 0:26:49And it's agreed that, "We won't allow people to roast pigs
0:26:49 > 0:26:53"or sheep for the Coronation, but we will allow them to roast ox,
0:26:53 > 0:26:59"as long as they can prove" - so British, this - "that they have a tradition of ox roasting".
0:26:59 > 0:27:05One community which did have a proven tradition of roasting an ox
0:27:05 > 0:27:08was the market town of Ledbury in Herefordshire.
0:27:10 > 0:27:16There was one condition imposed on those who WERE granted an ox roasting licence -
0:27:16 > 0:27:20the meat could not be sold. It had to given away free.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24In a time of rationing, a seductive offer.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35When we arrived, I was absolutely amazed by the amount of people.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37It was vast.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The largest crowd I had ever seen, and I don't remember
0:27:41 > 0:27:44witnessing a crowd quite as big as that ever since.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51It's said that 7,000 people were drawn to Ledbury town centre
0:27:51 > 0:27:57that day - nostrils quivering as they anticipated the treat to come.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03The heat was intense. Well, it needed to be to cook an animal of that calibre.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08After a whole day of basting and roasting,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11it was time to carve the joint.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Sheila Alexander, who was our Carnival Queen,
0:28:17 > 0:28:18she had the first slice.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24There were so many people there,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27I don't know if everybody managed to get a slice.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30I think they did their best, it took an awful long time.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Getting hold of a slice of the free meat wasn't that easy.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Well, I got on my hands and knees
0:28:41 > 0:28:46and I crept between the people in the crowd, and I got to the front
0:28:46 > 0:28:50and got two of these ox sandwiches - two - and I remember coming back
0:28:50 > 0:28:54to my mother and father and saying, "Look what I've got".
0:28:54 > 0:28:59I don't think they were terribly impressed, although I was.
0:28:59 > 0:29:00I was over the moon!
0:29:08 > 0:29:12- COMMENTATOR: - 'And in the comfortable pub, beer is of course the favourite drink.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16'Many thousand barrels of special Coronation Ale have been
0:29:16 > 0:29:19'brewed ready for the celebrations.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21'Let's try some.'
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Throughout the war, beer had been made weaker
0:29:24 > 0:29:27because the ingredients were in short supply.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30At Harveys in East Sussex, the Coronation gave head brewer
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Anthony Jenner the chance to make a special ale with a bit of a kick.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37This is the brewing book,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41and it's the brewing book for 1953.
0:29:41 > 0:29:47The date, January 28th, and the name Coronation Ale.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50The page shows the raw materials that went into the brew,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53the types of malt that were used, the types of sugar,
0:29:53 > 0:29:59and the hop grist, and Highwood hops we're still using to this day.
0:29:59 > 0:30:0115 barrels of beer brewed,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05and that would have translated to around 10,000 bottles.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15He wanted to produce a beer for the Coronation
0:30:15 > 0:30:19he saw as the dawning of the new Elizabethan Age,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and they played around with different label designs.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26I think Queen Bess was an early incarnation.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30But then he settled on the term Elizabethan,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34and he utilised within the label
0:30:34 > 0:30:37a depiction of the Golden Hinde, Drake's ship,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39and the Tudor crown,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41and the words Elizabethan Ale.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46On either side of the ship was the date, 1953,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49to depict that we were moving into another such age.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54NEWSREADER: 'As Coronation Day draws near,
0:30:54 > 0:30:57'the tempo of preparation all over the country
0:30:57 > 0:31:00'increases and excitement mounts.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04'Queen Victoria seems to disapprove a little as her skirts are brushed down.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08'Britain and the British intend to look their best for Coronation Day.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11'Everything will be specially shipshape
0:31:11 > 0:31:13'in honour of the new Queen.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19'And the red buses will shine in the sun as they carry crowds
0:31:19 > 0:31:22'to line the processional route through London town.'
0:31:23 > 0:31:29As before any celebration, there was a last-minute frenzy of activity.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Big Ben had to be spotless.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37The police horses were rehearsed
0:31:37 > 0:31:42for the noisy excitable crowds that were expected along the route.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50And those going to the Abbey itself
0:31:50 > 0:31:54and those simply marking Coronation Day in their own towns and villages
0:31:54 > 0:31:57checked that they would look their best.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06The person chosen to give the television commentary
0:32:06 > 0:32:09inside the Abbey was my father, Richard Dimbleby.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13A household name as a war correspondent on radio,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15he had made the transition to television.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19And I was with him as he made his final preparations.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21I was 14 at the time of the Coronation,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24and I started the day in the most extraordinary way.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27I was on a boat, a Dutch barge,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31moored here on the River Thames just outside the Houses of Parliament.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33For some extraordinary reason my father had got the idea
0:32:33 > 0:32:35he wouldn't be able to get a hotel room,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39and so he'd brought this boat which we rarely used and moored it there,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41and at half past four in the morning
0:32:41 > 0:32:44there was a bang, bang, bang on the side, and it was the River Police
0:32:44 > 0:32:47who came to collect us, to ferry us very kindly
0:32:47 > 0:32:52across from the barge here to the pier at Westminster.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57And it's from here we set off, my mother, my father, me,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00for Westminster Abbey.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12If there were 8,000 people seated in Westminster Abbey on Coronation Day
0:33:12 > 0:33:17it's estimated that there were two million on the streets of London.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19Many had camped out overnight
0:33:19 > 0:33:21and were soaked through
0:33:21 > 0:33:25by the kind of torrential rain that's not meant to fall in June.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29I have a vivid memory
0:33:29 > 0:33:31of coming up here to the Abbey with my mother and father.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Of course, the streets of London had been closed.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36You were walking in the middle of the road.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39But when we got to about here the whole of this place
0:33:39 > 0:33:42was full of people who'd been camped out all night,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44sitting huddled under blankets.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48And as we approached there was a great cheer, and I looked ahead
0:33:48 > 0:33:51and they were cheering somebody who was sweeping the roads,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54and anything that moved, they cheered,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57and then they caught sight of my father, another cheer went up.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00And my father, I remember he was wearing a top hat,
0:34:00 > 0:34:01and he looked around bemused,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and then realised they were cheering him
0:34:04 > 0:34:07and in a kind of musical gesture doffed his hat to them,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and then went off around into the Abbey
0:34:09 > 0:34:12and we went up to Regent Street to watch the procession.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20The BBC's first estimate was that there could be
0:34:20 > 0:34:25over five million people watching live pictures that day.
0:34:25 > 0:34:26How wrong they were.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32For many it'd be the first time they'd ever seen television.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35And the first face they would see on the screen
0:34:35 > 0:34:37was BBC announcer Sylvia Peters.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Well, I remember being rather nervous
0:34:40 > 0:34:42and I wasn't normally nervous
0:34:42 > 0:34:43going on screen, but I was that day.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45I had a very long announcement
0:34:45 > 0:34:46to learn,
0:34:46 > 0:34:50and I don't think I could possibly do it today,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53but in those days I could learn very, very quickly,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55so I just learnt it on that morning.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59And I had to do a rehearsal, which I did, and I was OK,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and then I did the actual opening.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04For the first time in history,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06through the medium of television,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08the ancient and noble rite of a Coronation service
0:35:08 > 0:35:11will be witnessed by millions of Her Majesty's subjects.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14I think they asked me to do it
0:35:14 > 0:35:16because I was the same age as the Queen,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18and I was a woman, so was the Queen.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21I think it was partly to do with that
0:35:21 > 0:35:24that I was the one that led the whole thing off.
0:35:24 > 0:35:25And before the Coronation
0:35:25 > 0:35:29the Queen had come to the studios to watch a variety programme
0:35:29 > 0:35:33and I was asked to go down and was presented to her afterwards.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35I think I asked the Duke of Edinburgh if she was going to be nervous
0:35:35 > 0:35:38and he said, "Oh, no, she'll enjoy it".
0:35:41 > 0:35:43And so, just before 10.30 that morning,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh left Buckingham Palace.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53RICHARD DIMBLEBY COMMENTATES: 'Her Majesty wearing the crimson Parliament Robes
0:35:53 > 0:35:55'and upon her head a jewelled diadem.'
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Waiting along the processional route
0:35:59 > 0:36:02was a 20-year-old Fleet Street photographer, Chris Barham,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05who'd yet to make a name for himself.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09I knew she was going to come down Northumberland Avenue
0:36:09 > 0:36:13and turn into, onto the Embankment.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18He was determined to seize the opportunity.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21I kind of sorted out my position
0:36:21 > 0:36:25and fortunately for me the police in the area,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27it was being policed by lovely coppers
0:36:27 > 0:36:30from the country villages of Cornwall and Devon,
0:36:30 > 0:36:31and one of them said to me,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35"Oh, are you supposed to be standing there, sir?"
0:36:35 > 0:36:38I said, "I'm a famous photographer in Fleet Street, if you don't mind.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43"And the Queen herself has asked ME to stand here
0:36:43 > 0:36:46"so that I get a good picture from in the coach."
0:36:46 > 0:36:47And, erm...
0:36:49 > 0:36:50"Did she really say that, sir?"
0:36:50 > 0:36:52I said, "Yes, yes, oh, yes."
0:36:52 > 0:36:53CHEERING
0:36:55 > 0:36:57"Oh," he said, "that'll be OK then."
0:37:04 > 0:37:05And of course all these little kids,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08"Yeee!", screaming and shouting,
0:37:08 > 0:37:13and the Queen was looking at them, really.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18And I just waited for that moment
0:37:18 > 0:37:21when I could see them both in the camera.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24Click.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Bingo.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29It just made a happy picture,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31she was waving and the Duke was smiling.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32Within half an hour
0:37:32 > 0:37:36it was in just about all countries throughout the world,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39and published full pages everywhere.
0:37:39 > 0:37:40Gosh,
0:37:40 > 0:37:43I got a ten-guinea bonus
0:37:43 > 0:37:47for giving them a big, valuable picture.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49Eeh!
0:37:49 > 0:37:51BELLS RING
0:37:53 > 0:37:55The first excitement of Coronation Day
0:37:55 > 0:37:58wasn't actually the Coronation itself,
0:37:58 > 0:38:01it was news that came through just after dawn,
0:38:01 > 0:38:06and here it is, "The crowning glory, Everest is climbed.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08"Everest, the highest mountain in the world,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10"had for the first time been conquered.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13"Tremendous news for the Queen,
0:38:13 > 0:38:14"Hillary does it.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16"Glorious Coronation Day news!
0:38:16 > 0:38:21"Everest - Everest the unconquerable - has been conquered.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25"And conquered by men of British blood and breed."
0:38:30 > 0:38:34These sumptuous colour pictures of the Coronation
0:38:34 > 0:38:37were filmed to be shown later in cinemas.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43By comparison, the BBC's live television coverage
0:38:43 > 0:38:45was grainy and in black and white.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:39:00 > 0:39:03It was the first time that we saw a television set.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05CHEERING
0:39:05 > 0:39:09It electrified you in the excitement of seeing something
0:39:09 > 0:39:14that happened miles away and that was of profound importance.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21The picture wasn't terribly good,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25but it was just wonderful
0:39:25 > 0:39:27to be watching something going on in London,
0:39:27 > 0:39:32and all the excitement, the crowds of people.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36'As the music rises in triumph, we await Her Majesty the Queen.'
0:39:36 > 0:39:39The Coronation was not only being viewed on TV sets in Britain.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44Live pictures were relayed to France, the Netherlands
0:39:44 > 0:39:49and 600 miles away to British troops stationed in West Germany.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53TRUMPETS PLAY
0:40:10 > 0:40:13ORGAN PLAYS
0:40:15 > 0:40:20CHOIR SINGS
0:40:23 > 0:40:25High up here behind the High Altar
0:40:25 > 0:40:29in the triforium, this gallery which runs round the Abbey,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31was where the commentators sat,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34and Richard Dimbleby among them for television sat up here
0:40:34 > 0:40:37just able to look down through these pillars
0:40:37 > 0:40:40and see, in effect, the top of the head of the Queen
0:40:40 > 0:40:42and the ceremonial going on.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47CHOIR SINGS
0:40:52 > 0:40:55In fact, when the moment of the Queen's crowning actually came,
0:40:55 > 0:40:56he put down his microphone
0:40:56 > 0:40:58and picked up a little cine camera
0:40:58 > 0:41:01and took a shot from here which we've got at home.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03You can't see anything, you can just see lights
0:41:03 > 0:41:05and you can just see the top of the Queen's head
0:41:05 > 0:41:07but he thought it was a very important moment
0:41:07 > 0:41:09and he had to record it.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11RICHARD DIMBLEBY: 'Now are brought for the first time
0:41:11 > 0:41:16'in 300 years, the Armills, the bracelets of pure gold
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'representing sincerity and wisdom,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23'the gift of the Commonwealth, to this Coronation.'
0:41:23 > 0:41:25My father had this Coronation book
0:41:25 > 0:41:27which everybody in the congregation had.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Beautifully bound in red morocco with the gold on the front,
0:41:30 > 0:41:34but in this one he had written all his commentary,
0:41:34 > 0:41:35all the notes,
0:41:35 > 0:41:40because the key thing for him was not to speak over the ceremony,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44so he'd carefully written all the notes of what he was going to say,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47and with little addendums like "start smartly"
0:41:47 > 0:41:50meaning get in as soon as the music stops
0:41:50 > 0:41:51or get in as soon as the prayer ends,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54or you'll miss your chance to say what you want to say.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58'The Queen has received all the Royal vestments.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01'She now receives the priceless and beautiful Crown Jewels,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03'culminating in the Crown itself.
0:42:03 > 0:42:04'But first...'
0:42:04 > 0:42:09Receive this orb set under the cross
0:42:09 > 0:42:12and remember that the whole world
0:42:12 > 0:42:19is subject to the power and Empire of Christ our Redeemer.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22What I also like about this is the language he used.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24It's not like the language people normally speak,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27it's slightly part of the ceremonial as well.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29So, for instance, instead of saying
0:42:29 > 0:42:32when the Coronation moment came, now the Queen will be crowned,
0:42:32 > 0:42:37he says, "The moment of the Queen's crowning is come".
0:42:37 > 0:42:39Notice the is - is come.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46'The moment of the Queen's crowning is come.'
0:42:52 > 0:42:54ALL: God save the Queen!
0:42:54 > 0:42:56God save the Queen!
0:42:56 > 0:42:59God save the Queen!
0:42:59 > 0:43:05TRUMPET FANFARE
0:43:05 > 0:43:06When the broadcast was over
0:43:06 > 0:43:09my father admitted he had been very nervous.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13He said it was one of the most nerve-racking broadcasts he'd done.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15It was obviously a very important occasion for the BBC,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18and I don't suppose his mood was much helped
0:43:18 > 0:43:21by a memorandum from the BBC saying,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26"I have full confidence that in no way will you let us down".
0:43:26 > 0:43:33# God save our gracious Queen... #
0:43:33 > 0:43:35As the Queen came down the aisle
0:43:35 > 0:43:37the BBC took a chance
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and showed one of those dreaded close-ups
0:43:39 > 0:43:41the Earl Marshal had forbidden.
0:43:41 > 0:43:46# God save the Queen
0:43:46 > 0:43:49# Send her victorious... #
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The Coronation was also being broadcast live on radio,
0:43:53 > 0:43:54not just in English,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58but with commentary in 41 languages to all corners of the world,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02who were fascinated by the rituals of British Monarchy.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06# ..over us... #
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Perhaps the oddest place it was heard, though,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15was deep under the Atlantic Ocean.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17A British submarine, the HMS Andrew,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21was making the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic underwater,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23and a sailor under the waves there
0:44:23 > 0:44:28heard the strange sound coming through on the radio of trumpets,
0:44:28 > 0:44:30and wondered what it was.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33And then it dawned on him what he was listening to under the waves
0:44:33 > 0:44:37was the Queen's Coronation in Westminster Abbey in London,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39thousands of miles away.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41TRUMPET FANFARE
0:44:41 > 0:44:46BELLS RING
0:44:49 > 0:44:52As the Queen completed her part in the Crowning Ceremony,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56the rest of the country started their own celebrations,
0:44:56 > 0:44:57and mock Coronations.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03The archives of Mass Observation show that they took many forms.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10They were interested in the glamour of it.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12They were interested in the aesthetics of the whole occasion,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15the coach, the beauty of it.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19It is their Coronation,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22or at least they take an event, which is a national event,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26and turn it around and make it theirs.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29It's turning it into something which actually
0:45:29 > 0:45:33might be very far away from the Queen herself,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37so the local celebration of people spending time together.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40DRUMROLL
0:45:52 > 0:45:55People were sort of celebrating amongst themselves,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58they weren't just necessarily focused on the event.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35On the West Wales coast
0:46:35 > 0:46:38volunteers on the world's first preserved steam railway
0:46:38 > 0:46:42decided they too would do their bit for Coronation Day.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50The railway basically ran this special train
0:46:50 > 0:46:51both morning and afternoon,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55and they invited the local schoolchildren down
0:46:55 > 0:46:57and they filled the train up.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59It was towards the Coronation, to do our bit
0:46:59 > 0:47:04and show that this little railway which these volunteers had taken over
0:47:04 > 0:47:08wanted the townsfolk to benefit from a ride on the train.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14It was their part in representing the Coronation Day, you see.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29WHISTLE BLOWS
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Well, I was the fireman on this locomotive on that day.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42I was just a couple of months before my 14th birthday.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45WHISTLE BLOWS
0:47:45 > 0:47:49The special train on the day of the Coronation.
0:47:49 > 0:47:50It's all in Welsh, isn't it?
0:47:50 > 0:47:53I thought it would have been, I can't remember,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56I thought it was half Welsh, half English, but it's all Welsh.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Well I put it on the top bracket by the chimney on that day.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02It takes you back a bit, doesn't it?
0:48:08 > 0:48:10WHISTLE BLOWS
0:48:17 > 0:48:19I'm in a rather noisy underpass
0:48:19 > 0:48:21in the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26Here we are, back in 1953, in the church.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30The congregation sitting here, not celebrating a service,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34but watching this tiny black-and-white television set
0:48:34 > 0:48:36up here on the wall.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39And what they're watching is the 1953 Coronation.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44And then as you go down, there are all the scenes of celebration.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46There's a girl licking her ice cream,
0:48:46 > 0:48:48a little boy in his train.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50But what is really extraordinary
0:48:50 > 0:48:52is that right in the middle of this procession,
0:48:52 > 0:48:55which you would have almost seen anywhere in Britain,
0:48:55 > 0:48:56is something quite unique.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58This.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10This is the amazing Salisbury Giant.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13He originally belonged to the Tailors' Guild in Salisbury,
0:49:13 > 0:49:16and is said to be 500 years old.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20The face, which is the oldest part, made of painted wood,
0:49:20 > 0:49:25with its moustache and its black beard, its pink cheeks.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33This giant was carried round the town
0:49:33 > 0:49:35to celebrate Coronations and Jubilees,
0:49:35 > 0:49:37when it would be brought out
0:49:37 > 0:49:40and carried just like the processions in London,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42carried round Salisbury with crowds lining the streets.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48And the person who carried it was a butcher,
0:49:48 > 0:49:52because butchers are used to carrying haunches of meat on their shoulders.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55I'll see if I can do it. Squeeze in.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Now,
0:50:00 > 0:50:02the danger is that - ow! - it falls over,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05which it has done from time to time.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10And then lift.
0:50:12 > 0:50:13And hope it doesn't fall over.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17There we are, just moving a little bit, just to show.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Britain had many ways of celebrating the Coronation,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32but in a way, this Salisbury Giant
0:50:32 > 0:50:33is one of the most revealing,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36because what happened here is what was happening all over Britain.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39People were delving back into their history
0:50:39 > 0:50:42to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II coming to the throne.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54In London, the Coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace
0:50:54 > 0:50:57was made up of over 12,000 troops
0:50:57 > 0:51:01from Britain and the Commonwealth and Empire.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04It was so long it took take 45 minutes to go past.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09My mother and I had seats
0:51:09 > 0:51:12on the first floor of a shop in Regent Street.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14We could look down over the whole of the street,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17thronged with people on either side, flags, bunting,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21and there was this little stage with seats on it
0:51:21 > 0:51:22so we could look down,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25and then behind in the room was the television set,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27and we could watch the actual service
0:51:27 > 0:51:30on this black and white flickering set behind there
0:51:30 > 0:51:32and once it was over came out here,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35sat in our seats and watched the procession.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44We had this Coronation souvenir programme
0:51:44 > 0:51:47which showed the route and showed all the contingents,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50hundreds and hundreds of them, thousands upon thousands.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02And into a great crescendo with the Royal Procession itself,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and the Queen's gold coach coming down here,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07which was, I have to say, a little bit of a disappointment
0:52:07 > 0:52:09because from this height
0:52:09 > 0:52:13you could only actually just see the Queen in the window of the coach itself.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17By then it was starting to rain,
0:52:17 > 0:52:21and as the procession went on it rained harder and harder
0:52:21 > 0:52:22until it was teeming down.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Everybody was soaked to the skin.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28And I remember all the wimps had had their carriages covered,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30so we couldn't see them at all,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32and the one exception, everybody remembers her,
0:52:32 > 0:52:36was the Queen of Tonga who sat with her carriage open,
0:52:36 > 0:52:38beaming with pleasure, waving to the crowds,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41and in front of her there was another sultan I think it was,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43who looked absolutely drenched,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46but she absolutely carried the day, the Queen of Tonga.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53Troops had come from all over the world
0:52:53 > 0:52:55to take part in the Coronation parade.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59But for the people living in those distant countries
0:52:59 > 0:53:01it would be weeks if not months before they could see
0:53:01 > 0:53:03pictures of the day's events.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08The Canadians, among the most fervent Royalists, weren't prepared to wait.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13In an era before satellites
0:53:13 > 0:53:17the only way to get the television pictures of the Coronation to Canada
0:53:17 > 0:53:18was to fly them there.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23It began on a cricket pitch
0:53:23 > 0:53:28adjacent to the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31There, there were two RAF Sycamore helicopters
0:53:31 > 0:53:36waiting to rush the films from there to London airport.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43The films were transferred to a waiting RAF Canberra jet bomber,
0:53:43 > 0:53:45British-built and the only jet aircraft
0:53:45 > 0:53:49capable of making a non-stop trans-Atlantic crossing.
0:53:50 > 0:53:55The first Canberra took off from London airport at 1:36pm,
0:53:55 > 0:53:57just after lunch.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01The aim was to have the pictures on Canadian television
0:54:01 > 0:54:03on Coronation Day itself.
0:54:05 > 0:54:11The camera arrived after a flight of five hours and nine minutes
0:54:11 > 0:54:12at Goose Bay in Canada,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15and there the Royal Canadian Air Force took off,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17they put the films from the Canberra
0:54:17 > 0:54:19into one of their own fighters
0:54:19 > 0:54:21which was flown to Montreal,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23and taken into the city by helicopter
0:54:23 > 0:54:25and then transferred it immediately.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32It meant that Her Majesty's subjects in Canada
0:54:32 > 0:54:38were able to share the same experience as the people in Britain had seen of the Coronation.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43And it wasn't just a sentimental thing.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47In 1953 the British Empire, the Commonwealth, was still a going concern
0:54:47 > 0:54:50and it was important that Canadians saw the young Queen
0:54:50 > 0:54:52being crowned that day.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55CHEERING
0:54:56 > 0:55:02The Royal Family was, as ever, box office in the United States.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06American networks were desperate to broadcast the Coronation pictures.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08But there was just one issue.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12American television was commercial, it had advertisements,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15unlike in Britain where there was no such thing at the time.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18But the Americans tried to reassure us.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20"Don't worry," they said, "we'll treat the thing
0:55:20 > 0:55:23"with the greatest dignity and good taste."
0:55:27 > 0:55:31One advertisement, bang in the middle of the Coronation,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35was for a motorcar advertised as the queen of cars.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44And another, at one of the key moments in the ceremony,
0:55:44 > 0:55:48one of the most sacred moments when the Queen is anointed with Holy Oil,
0:55:48 > 0:55:50for a full minute just before it happened
0:55:50 > 0:55:53there was an advertisement for a deodorant.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And then there's J Fred Muggs,
0:55:56 > 0:56:01the chimpanzee who was the mascot of NBC.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06And he appeared right through the Coronation to people's horror on this side of the Atlantic.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09At one point the presenter turned to him and said,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12"And do they have Coronations where you come from?"
0:56:15 > 0:56:17CHEERING
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Many thousands of the two million out on London's streets
0:56:23 > 0:56:26gathered outside Buckingham Palace in the late afternoon
0:56:26 > 0:56:29hoping for a glimpse of their newly-crowned monarch.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36ALL: We want the Queen! We want the Queen!
0:56:36 > 0:56:39We want the Queen! We want the Queen!
0:56:39 > 0:56:41They were not disappointed.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44CHEERING
0:56:44 > 0:56:48The Queen returned to the balcony five times that evening.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05But the huge crowds outside the Palace
0:57:05 > 0:57:09were a fraction of the number of people
0:57:09 > 0:57:11who saw the Queen on that balcony.
0:57:11 > 0:57:17All over the country, millions more peered into their shadowy TV sets
0:57:17 > 0:57:19at home, or watched in cinemas,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21or the pub.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26In the event, of course, it was television that won the day.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30In the run-up to the Coronation a million sets were sold,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33many bought by people who suddenly realised in a panic
0:57:33 > 0:57:35if they didn't get it they'd miss it.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37And on the day itself,
0:57:37 > 0:57:4120 million people watched the Coronation on television.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43TRUMPET FANFARE
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Television had created an opportunity
0:57:52 > 0:57:56for those millions to share with those in Westminster Abbey
0:57:56 > 0:57:58the crowning of the Queen.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Looking back it seems extraordinary
0:58:00 > 0:58:03that the issue had ever been in doubt.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07All through the 60 years of the Queen's reign
0:58:07 > 0:58:09there's been this debate raging
0:58:09 > 0:58:12about how to fit the ancient traditions of monarchy
0:58:12 > 0:58:14into the modern world,
0:58:14 > 0:58:16how to balance formality with popularity.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20And when it came to the first big decision of the reign,
0:58:20 > 0:58:23over the Coronation, popularity won out.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26By allowing television cameras into the Abbey,
0:58:26 > 0:58:28right here into the heart of the ceremony,
0:58:28 > 0:58:31it had decided that this should be,
0:58:31 > 0:58:35as far as possible, the people's Coronation.
0:58:46 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd