Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Coronation – Aspects of the Coronation .... Part 4


I have done this posting using the alphabet ... when you have a ‘Z’ for Zadok the Priest, ‘Q’ for Queen, ‘J’ for Judge ... and somewhere there’s an X I’m sure of it! ... so it made sense to me to jot pertinent or interesting points down ...
 
BBC's Radio Times

Ampulla -  the gold, eagle-shaped bottle, which is part of the Coronation Regalia, held the sacred oil, from which the Queen was anointed.

The aromatic holy oil was made from the same base as that used at her father’s, George VI, Coronation.


BBC – the first time they had broadcast from the Abbey, or had broadcast such a momentous event to the nation, and to the world.


Buckingham Palace Summer Exhibition 2013 will highlight archival and present items from the collections of the Coronation and the 60th anniversary commemoration.


Coronation – almost every monarch in our history over the last 1,000 years has been crowned, and each time that history is reprised.


Crown – St Edward’s Crown is solid gold encrusted with jewels and weighs over 2kgs (5lbs).  Cromwell destroyed the original ... and this Crown was made in 1661 for the coronation of King Charles II.

Vital statistics of the solid gold crown is that it stands just over twelve inches high (31cm), while it is studded with 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies.

Queen Victoria and Edward VII did not use the St Edward’s Crown – they both preferred the Imperial State Crown as it is lighter.


Princess Anne's and Prince Charles's
Coronation outfits, which will be shown
at the Summer Exhibition
Diplomacy/Discretion – the exemplar of these ... Queen Elizabeth II  has given counsel to prime ministers and world leaders, who knew whatever they confided to her would never be divulged.  There is no man or woman who can match this diplomatic record.



Dressers’ Floor at Buckingham Palace – who knew?!

In 2013 the Queen’s oyster silk-satin brocade dress was made from material held in the Palace stock.

The James Bond Royal Olympic episode ... the dress makers were requested to make two dresses for THAT JUMP ... now they know why.

The white Coronation dress, designed by Norman Hartnell, was decorated with thousands of tiny seed pearls, and the floral emblems of all the countries encompassed in the oath.

(Book available: “Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe” allows readers unprecedented access to the Dressers’ Floor at Buckingham Palace.  By Angela Kelly, published by the Royal Collection Trust - available via Amazon.)


Escaping the Tower! The 350 year-old crown used for the Queen’s coronation left the Tower of London for the first time since 1953 to play its part in the Ceremony.

Faiths – the Coronation in 1953 was a strictly Anglican Christian event, but in 2013 Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other faiths were represented ... reflecting our multi-cultural society


Gun Salute Members of the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Territorial Regiment, fired a 62 gun-salute at the Tower of London.


Prince Charles's Invitation, will
also be on show at the Summer
Exhbition
Herbert Howell’s motet “Behold Oh God our Defender” was sung by The Anointing Choir as the flask of oil was placed on the altar to represent the anointing of the Queen during her Coronation.


Invitation – Prince Charles, aged 5, was issued an invitation to attend the Coronation.  The special invitation featured the royal lion, the unicorn, the royal coat of arms, and soldiers ... exactly what a small boy would like to have.  The Queen commanded in her invitation Prince Charles to attend.


A Judge processed, with ten other generational representatives, the symbolic flask of oil to the altar.


King George VI had been a good king in hard times: courageous in the unknowable hazards of war and in the exhausted years of post-war austerity.


Little Book of Private Devotions – the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Coronation in 1953 gave the Queen this little book containing a daily prayer and meditations.
 
Westminster Abbey looking down the
nave and up at the roof

Long Live the Queen – loudly rings out when the Queen was crowned


Low key celebration: no pomp and circumstance – the royals arrived by car, the men were in lounge suits, no medals were displayed – the main celebrations were held last year for the Diamond Jubilee.


Mothballs – a gentle aroma of naphthalene from the gowns (peers and peeresses) which had been stored away ...


National Anthem ... and I couldn’t come up with an “N”!


The Oath – sixty years ago the Queen swore the oath “to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon”, and of her “Possessions and other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs” – these are somewhat fewer these days and Britain is a much-changed nation.


Peal of Bells –The Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers, will ring a Coronation Sixtieth Anniversary celebratory peal of London Surprise Royal comprising 5060 changes.


People invited in 2013 – anyone associated with the service in 1953, and then others chosen by the Lord Lieutenants, the Queen’s representatives in our counties, who are members of society from public service, the armed forces, and ‘worthies’ ...  


Poetry – the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann  Duffy, managed a dignified, touching meditation on “The Crown” – including the symbolism that is the Crown, and the humanity of the woman who has been our monarch for six decades ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jun/04/carol-ann-duffy-the-crown-poem


1953 the crowned Queen


Ready, Girls? At the point, just before the Queen began her procession to King Edward’s Chair, where she would take the Coronation Oath, Her Majesty paused ... turned to the ladies carrying her crimson velvet train ... and said “Ready, Girls?”



Regalia – the Ampulla and Crown are two of the Regalia used at the Coronation, which were brought to the Abbey to be placed on the high altar ...

·        The Ampulla represents the Queen’s commitment to God
·        The Crown her commitment to her people


Royal Baby – is apparently due in about a month ... the 3rd in line to the throne, after its grandfather and father.


Royal Peculiar – Westminster Abbey is a Royal Peculiar ... it is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop.  The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times.


Sermon – the address given by the Archbishop of Canterbury sounded like a rallying cry for the Established Church.


The Queen Opening Parliament - one
of her duties to the British people
Silence – once the Abbey doors opened the expectant silence of the young monarch arriving, after the noisy chatting of the waiting congregation.


Thirty Eighth sovereign to be crowned.


The Union of the Crowns (March 1603) was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the thrones of England and Ireland, and the consequential unification of Scotland with both realms under a single monarch. 

The Union of the Crowns followed the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England – the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, who was James’ unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed.


The Vivats – were reprised for the 60th anniversary of the Coronation, and were slotted in to the anthem as the Queen and the Duke came down the aisle together for the Service. 

The rousing cries of Vivat Regina and the Coronation introit “I was Glad” by Hubert Parry resonated through the Abbey.


Westminster Abbey is where the Kings and Queens of England have been crowned since William the Conqueror on Christmas day in 1066.


Yellow, cream and white flowers decorating
Westminster Abbey
X         LX = Sixty in roman numerals – remember?


York Minster was the first Minster church built for the baptism of Edwin in 627AD.  King Edwin, as he became, converted to Christianity and established York as the centre for ecclesiastical and educational affairs.   

Alcuin of York, the great philosopher and theologian, as well as Charlemagne’s leading advisor, had a long career here in the 8th century: this has links to my mother’s interest in Alcuin from a prayer card, left by the Chaplin when she was in the Acute Brain Injury Unit.


 
St Bede the Venerable -
 c/o Diocese of Shrewsbury 
The Venerable Bede (672 – 735 AD) wrote his ‘An Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ – which recorded Edwin’s and Alcuin’s history and  the commencement of the country’s conversion to Christianity.


Zadok the Priest – reading by Prime Minister, David Cameron – who effortlessly cleared the tricky hurdle of the Clerethites and Pelethites in his reading from the book of Kings ...   (1 Kings 1:32-40)

The ritual of anointing, the most sacred part of the Coronation in which the Queen was consecrated as monarch, has its origins in the anointing of King Solomon by the priest Zadok in the 10th century BC.


This completes my A – Z ... and my next two posts will cover the music and the actual service from both the Coronation and the anniversary commemoration.  Then last but not least there will be a brief baby post tying the last few years of royalty together.


Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories






Monday, 10 June 2013

Coronation – Prince Philip ... Happy 92nd Birthday ...Part 3


The Duke of Edinburgh – that King of Consorts ... who is the longest serving royal consort in British history ... now at over 61 years, as he stepped into the role on 6 February 1952 ... when the news reached the royal couple on safari in Kenya ... that King George VI had died.



There were troublesome times ... but the Queen had her eyes set on him since she was 13 ... though the sparks flew in the early days with life and the courtiers, they seem to have settled into what has to be one of the great royal marriages in British history.


They are lucky to have been together for so long ... and to respect each other’s roles.  The Queen has been exemplary in her duty ... while Prince Philip has adjusted to managing the household and family life, he has also carved out a very successful ‘career’ for himself with his charity and environmental work.

Coronation Portrait


He founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, getting involved with literally hundreds of organisations, from the National Playing Fields Association to the World Wide Fund for Nature.


 He has modernised the way the Palace operated and has been a great support to the Queen through the trials and tribulations that have touched the family ...



... the Windsor Castle fire, the Prince of Wales’s divorce, however letters to Diana, Princess of Wales, revealed the Duke to be more sympathetic and caring than he is often given credit for ... and he has a wicked and fun sense of humour, creating much laughter - a needed characteristic in all our lives ... 


Coat of Arms of Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh
Through all the troubles the Queen’s husband has been her rock, as she readily acknowledges.  The monarchy has been a success and I’m sure that’s in no small part to the Duke’s appreciation of human society and the way Britain has had to adapt to its history.


It’s interesting I read my post of a year ago, when the Prince had again been hospitalised, and mentioned that if I was his wife I would want to be at his bedside ... as I did with my mother and uncle.


Canada Gate entrance to
Green park
Having had a rethink or realignment of a think (!) ... I realised that from a patient’s point of view – it’s the trust you can put in your loved ones ... in my case – my mother knew I’d always be there, while I was able to ensure she had visits from healing therapists, whose visits she enjoyed – but when she was ill ... I’d be there, always. 


A great friend of my mother’s had said – she’s put her trust in you ... and actually that’s something for a mother to do with her daughter – the role reversal ... but it worked.  I had thought about how lucky, and knew that, I was in the circumstances ...

Prince Philip's painting of his wife
at breakfast (1957)

... then I thought about the Queen carrying on ‘as if nothing had happened’ while her husband was and once again is in hospital ... but it comes down to trust.


The Queen I’m sure would prefer to be there ... and will be visiting today, I understand, but in the meantime a member of the family, or trusted advisor will be ‘around’ ... and of course she will be kept informed.


So though it may seem odd to us lesser mortals – at times, when the trust is in place, it is unnecessary to be hovering ... as we all know as humans (bloggers and writers!) waiting around does us no good!!


London is going to get two gun salutes today ...

·        the first a 41-round Royal Salute by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Green Park at noon ...

·        followed, an hour later, by a 62-round Salute by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London.

Green Park in Spring, with Buckingham Palace in the
background

Happy Birthday to a resting Prince ... it seems they needed to ensure some much needed rest was on the cards ... so I hope he’s having a few zizzes and recovering ...


Just hope he doesn’t get shocked awake by the Salutes taking place!!

My post on Prince Philip's birthday last year, our Jubilee year

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Saturday, 8 June 2013

Coronation – Rehearsals, Choristers and Westminster Abbey transformed - part 2


Preparations were well laid – rehearsals were ongoing and rigorous ... the Abbey was enshrouded for its transformation, the choristers practised under a tough regime, the Gold Coach pulled by the white horses were given a few test runs ...
 
The Queen at her daily correspondence,
with the same coloured flowers as were
used in the decoration at the Abbey

The young Queen wore a replica of the Crown as she went about her daily routine - so she could become accustomed to its feel and weight.


Rehearsals – everyone was involved ... the Queen came along 7 or 8 times, the Duke of Edinburgh was Chairman of the Coronation Committee ...


A replica of St Edwards Crown

 ... the choristers took full advantage of the situation ... fed lumps of sugar to the horses, sat in the Gold Coach, tested out the Coronation Chair ... which to this day they do not admit to!  Boys will be boys ...
  

They even had the audacity during the Service to fire a few paper darts down upon the assembled foreign dignitaries!


All choristers were required to attend each and every rehearsal – two professional singers who had to be part of an event at the Festival Hall – they missed out on selection ... the choir master, Dr William McKay, was a tough task master!

 
The Gold Coach with 'model horses'
in the Stables at Buckingham Palace
They had grub in their robes ... as one chorister said that was polished off in the first few minutes of being in the Cathedral ... ham sandwiches, barley sugars and an apple – it was meant to last the 8 hours ...


The choirs were 400 strong, of which there were 180 trebles ... the choristers alive today remember the massive noise ... the fanfare at the beginning of Zadok the Priest, Handel’s Coronation Anthem, then the orchestra builds up to a crescendo when every member of the choir joins in ...

 
The Queen and Prince Philip being led down
the Aisle at Westminster Abbey on the
occasion of her 60th Coronation anniversary
 The choristers today remember the colour – the Abbey shone like never before ... the tv lights (the first time they’d been used in the Abbey) lit everything up ... the stone pillars, the roof, the Gold and Blue carpets to match the Abbey’s paintwork, the crimson mantles of the peers and peeresses, the silks and jewels in turbans of some of the overseas nobles and maharajas ...


Those choristers were traced and invited to the anniversary celebrations, while they clubbed together to commission a special anthem from Bob Chilcott, a British choral composer, to celebrate this 60th anniversary of the Coronation – the anthem is called “The King shall rejoice in thy Strength”.

The Royal Family's motto

Abbey

Two thousand guests were invited to attend the 2013 Coronation anniversary – but in 1953 .... 8,251 guests came – how on earth did the Abbey accommodate that number of dignitaries, nobles et al?


The Surveyor of the Fabric of the Abbey, Ptolomy Dean, showed us how this was achieved, through the archival records containing those plans and documents bound in the book “The Place of Crowning: Its history, Arrangement, and Preparation for the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”.


Westminster Abbey looking up - the aisle length
and into the roof


Sir Henry Rushbury, RA, Keeper of the Royal Academy and Head of the Royal Academy Schools, was commissioned to paint the process of making the Abbey suitable for the Coronation.


The watercolours looked wonderful (sadly I cannot find any copy of these) ... and showed the different craftsmen working away, while the Abbey was temporarily converted.  500 people worked on the transformation ...


.... first things first:  the floor was covered in three inches of wood, all the statues and sculptures were boxed in – to protect the delicate parts of the Abbey ...


... then they could start on the massive seating in grand stands.  The nave had an enormous gallery cascading down from the west window; seats on the side aisles reached right up to the heads of the windows ...


... a small railway was laid up the main aisle,  with branch lines reaching out into the transepts... so that:

·        450 tonnes of steel
·        3,000 tonnes of timber
·        enough scaffolding to reach form here to Paris could be more easily moved around ...


Prince Charles looking somewhat bored!
The fitting out must have been so challenging, a terrifying process to take on inside such a renowned building ... in what was more akin to a dockyard than a Cathedral.


The Folio of the plans show so clearly where everyone was sitting, including the Royal Gallery, where Prince Charles, as a 5 year old, with his grandmother and aunt, including royal guests, were able to see the High Altar.


The peers were in the south transept, the peeresses in the north transept – their robes providing a bank of crimson, a glittering array of diamonds, the ermine trimmings giving added solemnity to the occasion ...

 
Crimson and ermine robes of the peers at
the State Opening of Parliament
The Plans also showed the medical centres, the vast numbers of lavatories and drinking fountains ... everyone had to be in place by 8.00 am ... and would be there for eight hours!!



Ptolomy Dean described the Coronation Chair, which has not been restored as such ... but maintained as a cherished part of Coronation history ... every Monarch has sat on it since the 13th century.

King Edward's Chair
prior to its recent tidying up

Its battered worn appearance reflects its existence over the centuries ... and if one looks carefully at the fabric ... the old patterns of painting and decoration can be seen through the later layers ...


... originally the Chair would have been a gleaming golden thing as befits a ruling Monarch of the 1200s ... but the 18th century graffiti of the Westminster choir boys remains – nothing changes with youngsters does it! ... however Queen Victoria had it painted brown?!?! – thankfully that’s mostly all come off ...


An example of the canopy over the anointing ...
but I'm not sure why Queen Alexandra was
also anointed .. but Edward VII was different!
The new crimson Canopy sets the Chair off in its present setting in St George’s Chapel ... the canopy represents the special awning that covered the Monarch being crowned ... the very secret religious part of the Coronation, where the Queen gave herself to God above all, when the anointing with oil takes place ... before she was ‘presented’ to the nation as the new Queen.



Rigorous and thorough preparations were planned and carried through for the Coronation of our Queen in 1953 ... more to follow.


Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Friday, 7 June 2013

Coronation - Memories 1953 - Part 1


Memories - as a chorister at Westminster School said in 1952 once he heard the Westminster Minute Bell toll he knew the King had died and he felt sad ... then soon after realised with great joy that they would participate in a Coronation ...
 
Westminster Abbey
western entrance

That 1st of June the heavens had opened and anyone who came to London – all 2 million of them ... were going to get a soaking ... and have a cold night – apparently it was 2 degrees F colder than in December 6 months later!

The 2nd of June had been chosen because records showed it to be sunniest day of the year – well not in June 1953!  Brollies were up, transparent macs were on, extra jumpers were donned, blankets covered knees ...


The Queen and the Duke after the
Coronation in 1953, on the balcony
of Buckingham Palace
Families and friends came ... they sat it out ... breaks were had, places saved ... then the rain cleared ... similar to last year for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

‘Dress code’ was different ... in 1953 almost everyone was in a hat of some description ... it was de rigeur not to wear a hat, children included, ... there were no flags being waved by the ecstatic spectators ...



Weybridge invitation to local residents

But everyone was happy, the roads and pavements were packed with people, damp dignitaries sat in specially erected stands ... The Mall was crowded out ...


... Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace was surrounded ... the streets were lined to welcome the new Queen making her way to Westminster Abbey in the golden state coach.


Part of the Coronation issue of portraits
 - this one by Terence Cuneo:
study for the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II 1953.
c/o Royal Heritage
The Americans had promised to air the Coronation with all due reverence ... BUT the US tv spliced the broadcast with clips of chimpanzees in a bow tie and an advert for the “Queen of motorcars” ... advertising caught on in England!


The Queen was 18 years younger than President Kennedy when he became president ... while as “Inquiring Photographer” for the Washington Post a young journalist, one Jacqueline Bouvier, was in attendance.  (The Kennedy’s married in September 1953).


Millions around the world watched it on television, mostly in Britain ... this was the first time that some of the British public would have seen television... after the Coronation rush to buy tv sets took off ...

Jo in her blog has posted a Canadian TV clip of those times - where the CBC rightly were quite pleased with themselves as they took footage of the event, had it processed in London and then flew it across the Atlantic - so it could be shown on the same day in Canada.  (Video here)
 
River Thames - boat houses 

... we drove up from west Surrey to the Thames boat houses ... and spent the day with a friend of my father’s at his house, as he used to row at Oxford ... we ran up and down the towpath, in and out of the lapping river ... how much we saw of the tv I’ve no idea ... I expect we were rounded up to watch!



People took their children and friends to the cinema to see the film of the Coronation ... distributed I assume by Pathe News.  Most citizens would not have had access to a tv ... so waited a few days until the local cinema showed the event ...


We did get Coronation Mugs ... but there was tat around, even in 1953!  There were paper bags coloured red, white and blue – now I’d say that was enterprising ... some of the other stuff perhaps not so much ...


Street parties were had – the entertainment was ‘home-made’ as there were no tvs in the street ... bunting was strung across the road, competitions were had – coronation queens were crowned ...


... Mansfield Street in Bristol made their own red, white and blue, bunting and a huge golden crown ... the winning queen still had her golden dress, some cake decoration and a box of Coronation cigarettes – still with some unsmoked inside ...

 
Mansfield Street - a colour film had been made -
unusual for the time .. the BBC have restored
it here, which I hope shows overseas
They won £75 – and treated the whole street to a day out at the seaside in Weymouth .. they hired a train for the journey ...  in 1953 they knew everyone, as one resident said – today he only knows about 30% of the families in the road.


Some rationing was removed ... sweets and sausages!

Selection of sweets from the 1950s

Churchill as Prime Minister, who had been against broadcasting the Coronation, but had been overruled by others including the Duke of Edinburgh, then was determined the public would enjoy the occasion and everyone was awarded an extra 1lb in sugar to help them celebrate, while caterers were also allowed additional sugar and fat.


This explains why we had chickens – for fresh eggs and meat ... and kept pigs too ... but my mother and I were designated vegetarian, who would then get more cheese and butter in our ration allowance as a family – we had the meat in the garden!

 
The Queen at her Coronation in the
Coronation Chair
 Sixty years on we have just cause to celebrate a great moment in history when the nation and the Commonwealth came together ... and finally, the sun came out again in England and everyone was delighted with those memories of long ago.


More Coronation posts to follow ... how many I do not know!!  I should have posted this on Wednesday and joined the help IWSG (the insecure writers support group) - I'm overwhelmed with Coronation information!

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters