Today is the 65th anniversary of the coronation of The Queen. On 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth who succeded her father on 6 February 1952, held her coronation in which she was sworn in as Sovereign of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon.
As we mark another milestone Her Majesty The Queen has reached, we take a look back at the day in numbers.
It took Norman Hartnell 8 months to create the coronation gown. The dress was picked from the 8th design sketch that he sent to Queen Elizabeth. It took the 3 dressmakers and six embroiders around 9,000 hours to create the gown.
Since the coronation, Her Majesty has worn her Hartnell gown 6 times. The last time was in 1957 at the Opening of Parliament in Canada.
The purple velvet train reached 20 yards.
The Queen wore 2 gowns. Over top was the Colobium, a ceremonial gown, made of pleated white linen as a symbol of the monarch’s rejection of vanity.
On the way to the coronation she rode in the Gold State Coach for 7.5 kilometres from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, it was pulled by 8 grey geldings.
The diadem she wore on her way to Westminster Abbey was originally made in 1820 for George IV, it had 169 pearls encircling 1,333 diamonds.
At the coronation itself, the St. Edward’s Crown was placed on her head weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces in part due to being made in solid gold.
157 pounds sterling spent on the Coronation ring in 1831. Nicknamed the “wedding ring of England”, it is a ruby and sapphire cross surrounded by diamonds.
To help The Queen throughout the day she had 7 ladies helping her, 6 of those were Coronation Maids. They consisted of 2 Ladies of the Bedchamber, 4 Women of the Bedchamber and 1 Mistress of the Robes.
By BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives from Canada – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II / uronnement de la Reine Elizabeth IIUploaded by oaktree_b, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19783528
Two decorate the Abbey, 5 types of flowers were used. The all-white Coronation Bouquet was made up of stephanotis from Scotland, carnations from Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, orchids from England and Wales and lily-of-the-valley from England.
Before Queen Elizabeth, 38 British Sovereigns were crowned at Westminster Abbey.
During the coronation, 11 Million Britons listened to the ceremony on the radio and a further 27 Million Britons watched the ceremony on television.
129 nations and territories were officially represented at the ceremony with 250 people in the Sovereign’s procession entering Westminster Abbey.
In total 8,251 guests attended the Coronation Ceremony.
Over 500 photographers covered the parade route from 92 nations.
Queen Elizabeth is the 1st British Monarch to mark 65 years on the throne.
Long live The Queen!
