Readers remember how they marked the late Queen’s coronation in 1953

They’re an ever-dwindling band, the ten per cent of us who witnessed the young Elizabeth being crowned back in 1953.

All the more reason, then, for them to share their memories of that momentous day… and what memories they are. 

We asked you to send in your pictures and recollections of coronation day, and these are some of your extraordinary tales – from exploding televisions to robes made from curtains and a cheeky moment on the throne…

A PERCH ON THE THRONE (AND IN THE GOLD COACH) 

‘This was my school’s entry in the village pageant in Henfield, West Sussex. We learned to ride on the Welsh mountain pony, Silver. I’m the Beefeater next to the lady carrying coats over her arm. The costumes were all made by the parents and I remember my mother painting the emblems onto the fabric and waiting for them to dry. We won the silver cup for 1st prize.’

Seventy years on, Val Baker still treasures the special doll her mum gave her to mark the coronation

‘My biggest surprise was my mum’s present to me of a large coronation doll in full royal regalia. It even sang the national anthem! To this day I treasure my doll, still in her original clothes, but unfortunately she no longer sings. I believe she cost £5 and came from Holland. I have no idea how Mum paid for her, as £5 was a lot of money then.’

Val Baker, Torquay

Mrs Cris Bolduc, Aylesbury

Henry Phillips described how his father, who worked for Scaffolding Great Britain, was involved in setting up seating for thousands of people around Parliament Square

‘My dad, Harry Edmund Phillips, worked for Scaffolding Great Britain, a Mitcham-based company charged with erecting terraces of seating around Parliament Square that had to be sturdy enough to hold thousands of people, and also to design the gantries that were positioned high up within the abbey for the TV cameras. Obviously, great care had to be taken by the team to ensure there was no damage to Westminster Abbey. The scaffolding work took place over many weeks and on one occasion, just prior to the coronation, Dad took me to the abbey to admire his work. During this visit the throne was brought in and I could not resist having a little sit on it, only a few days before Her Majesty had the honour!’

Henry Phillips, Beckenham

‘I was a cadet in the St John Ambulance Brigade posted outside Westminster Abbey. During the ceremony we took a break. My father was in the Royal Horse Artillery and I knew one of his former colleagues was working in the Royal Mews as a coachman. I went over to where the coaches were and asked if anyone knew him. A large gentleman said it was him. It turned out he was one of the postillions who rode the grey horses pulling the Queen’s gold coach. He showed me round it, then opened the door and said, ‘In you go, lad.’ And I sat for a short time in the Queen’s seat. I was back on station for when she left the abbey and I saw her sitting in ‘my’ seat.’

John Ede, Kingsbridge, Devon

‘I was a 13-year-old St John Ambulance cadet living in Leicester and was chosen to represent the brigade at the coronation. I was positioned at Trafalgar Square looking down towards Buckingham Palace. An hour later a squad of soldiers were placed in front of me so when the Queen’s coach started heading down The Mall towards us I couldn’t see because of this big soldier. So I tapped him on the back and told him I couldn’t see. He picked me up and sat me on the plinth of a huge bronze lion, where I had a great view of the young Queen smiling towards us.’

Geoff Allen, Rothley, Leicestershire

TROUBLE WITH THE NEW-FANGLED TELLY

‘I was eight. My father built our first TV from a kit and neighbours were invited in to watch. About halfway through, the TV went bang and burst into flames and had to be wheeled into the back yard. So disappointing!’

Anita Fountain, Derby

Joan Shergold was overcome with emotion when she watched the coronation on the family’s TV 

‘I was 15 and still a schoolgirl. We had a TV which my father had bought from a friend who built them on request. I was in tears on the day as it was such an emotional occasion. This picture was taken by my father, a professional photographer.’

Joan Shergold, Christchurch

‘I was nine and lived in a mining village. We only had gas in the house as they were still putting in electricity. Dad decided we must have a TV for the coronation, so he bought one. It was delivered and we put it in the corner of the room and all sat looking at it with a vase of flowers on top – but with no picture. We had a telly but no electricity.’

Brenda Burke, Wakefield

‘My father knew a man who worked for Ekco, the electronics manufacturer. He also owned three cars, one of which was a Ruby saloon. My father wanted a TV for the coronation and the man from Ekco wanted a car, so the Ruby was swapped for a 15in TV which was quite advanced, boasting ‘Spot Wobble’.’

Richard Thomson, Kingston upon Thames

‘My father managed to buy a TV set the week before the event. It had a tiny screen and we had some sort of magnifier in front of it, which unless one was right in front was more like the hall of mirrors at the fairground!’

Maggie Morse, Brynamman

‘My dad had bought a contraption by mail order which promised to transform our 9in black-and-white telly to colour. It was a perspex screen that clipped over the front. The top third was tinted blue for sky, the middle section pink to mimic ‘people’ (this was the Britain of 70 years ago), and the bottom was green for grass. We sat down excitedly to watch our posh ‘colour’ TV. It didn’t matter that the horses were pink with green feet.’

Mrs Eileen Haworth, Blackburn

CAPTIVATED BY THE CORONATION FLOWERS 

Elsie Swindells, 92, still remembers the scent of the coronation flower displays in Westminster Abbey

‘I watched the event with about a dozen family, sitting around a 10in TV in a front room in Liverpool. Not long after, my new husband Tom and I set off on our honeymoon in Italy. We stayed one night in London and visited Westminster Abbey. As we walked in we were hit by the scent of the coronation flower displays. I’m 92 now and still remember that wonderful scent and how exciting it felt.’

Mrs Elsie Swindells, Wirral

As a member of the Kingston Ladies Swimming Club, Joy Grafton (right, centre) took part in a procession through Kingston upon Thames

‘I was a member of the Kingston Ladies Swimming Club and took part in a procession of floats through Kingston upon Thames. Age 14, I wore a red 1890s swimsuit while most of the other participants wore modern swimwear. It was a chilly day and after the procession we went to the Kingston Coronation Baths in Denmark Road and several of us jumped into a communal bath of hot water!’

Joy Grafton, Worthing, West Sussex

I WAS CROWNED QUEEN TOO!

Gail Foster’s mum, Jean Dunne (pictured), dressed up with a crown and sceptre when she was chosen to be ‘Queen’ at her Liverpool street party 

‘My mum, Jean Dunne, was chosen to be ‘Queen’ at her street party in Liverpool. The crown, sceptre and clothes were all made from scratch. My mum had to learn a speech and she still remembers it all today.’

Gail Foster, Southport

‘I was five years old and attended Cedar Road infants school in Northampton. In June 1953 I was chosen to play Queen Elizabeth in our very own ‘coronation’. My crown had Rowntree’s Fruit Gums for jewels and my cloak was made from old velvet curtains. My teacher was Miss Coupe, now Mrs Howland, and she’s still alive and kicking. I spoke to her recently. This was my first ‘starring’ role – I’ve been in amateur dramatics most of my life and am still acting now.’

Rosemary Read, Northampton

‘I was six and dressed as ‘Miss Off The Ration’ in a dress covered with sweetie wrappers for our street party, with my three-year-old brother going as Noddy. That evening Mum put us to bed and my brother was asleep when the doorbell rang. A few minutes later Mum came up and said there had been a lady at the door with leftovers from the party of cherryade and ice cream. We didn’t have a fridge, let alone a freezer, and as a treat we were allowed up for this special supper. It was so special, I can still remember the thrill of it.’

Lynne Atkinson, Twickenham

‘At the most solemn moment of the ceremony when the Queen was about to be crowned, the Archbishop of Canterbury approached her carrying the regalia in front of him on a cushion but as if he was carrying a tray. Suddenly a voice in the room rang out, ‘Ice-creams, cigarettes anyone?’ It was my dad’s friend Gwilly, who had a keen sense of humour.’

Sandra Hurley, Exeter

‘In 1953 I lived with my two sisters in Ropers Avenue, Chingford, Essex, and we had a street party and a fancy dress competition. My mother decided to write to Mackintosh’s, the manufacturer of Quality Street chocolates, for some ideas as their tins showed a soldier in uniform and two ladies in crinoline dresses. Mackintosh’s unexpectedly sent templates of the uniform and dresses along with a huge quantity of coloured crepe paper. My mother spent hours on an old Singer treadle sewing machine making up the fancy-dress clothes from the crepe paper.’

John Mitchell, Chingford

Sue Williams (second from right) remembers taking part in her school’s coronation celebrations. She was disappointed because she had to wear a crown made of cardboard rather than the proper one the school’s ‘Queen’ got to wear

‘This was taken outside Wells Town Hall – a girl had been selected from each infants and junior school in Wells. I was so disappointed because the ‘Queen’ was chosen because the beautiful crown fitted her head. I had to make do with an ugly gold cardboard crown decorated with buttons, and it was too big for my little head anyway.’

Mrs Sue Williams, Wells

ON PARADE WITH BRITAIN’S BEST DRESSED KIDS 

Linda Smith (right) attended a street party in Goodmayes, Ilford wearing a special coronation dress embellished with buttons

‘This is me, aged three, and my cousin at a street party in Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex. All the buttons were sewn on by my grandfather. My niece wore the dress for the 1977 Jubilee and I still have it today.’

Linda Smith, Wickford, Essex

Cheryl Barge (left) and her friend Suzanne got dressed up to take part in a Winchester parade 

‘My friend Suzanne and I were to be part of a parade in Winchester but we didn’t actually take part as the organisers had placed us two little girls between two very large lorries. Our mothers weren’t very keen on that idea, but as you can see we were extremely keen!’

Mrs Cheryl Barge, Winchester

Thomas Gill spent the coronation day with his cousins. He said the reason they’re looking miserable is because it poured all day

‘If my cousins and I look miserable [above right] it’s because it poured down all day. We had no television, we didn’t even have electricity on our farm in North Yorkshire.’

Thomas Gill, Carnforth

John Winchester shared a picture of him dressed up as a witch for a coronation fancy dress competition 

‘As a three-year-old growing up in the village of Groombridge, on the border between Kent and Sussex, I entered the coronation fancy dress competition as a witch – my mother used most of a roll of cotton wool to make my hair. I came second, which was particularly annoying as the winner was a scarecrow and his father was a farmer! My dad wasn’t a wizard!’

John Winchester, Rugby

Gillian Nicholson’s mother made her a Union Jack apron for the coronation, which she celebrated with her grandparents in Shoreditch, London

‘I’m wearing a Union Jack apron here, which my mother made for the occasion. I remember how we had a wonderful street party outside my grandparents’ house in Fellows Street in Shoreditch in east London.’

Gillian Nicholson, Banstead

HER MAJESTY SENT ME A BOX OF CHOCOLATES

Hospitalised with polio during the coronation, five-year-old Valerie Uren and the other sick children each received a box of chocolates from the Queen

‘I was five years old and in hospital for the coronation after contracting polio at the age of seven months. Our beds were pushed out onto the verandah, as celebrations were going on in the grounds. I still have the programme, and each child in hospital received a box of chocolates from the Queen.’

Miss Valerie Uren, Gosport

Patricia Moore, who moved to London from India in 1950, took part in street races as part of Fulham’s  Allestree Road’s coronation celebrations 

‘My Anglo-Indian parents, my three older sisters and I had arrived from India in 1950. I was chosen to be Coronation Queen at our street party in Allestree Road, Fulham, London. We had delicious food and also street races with prizes.’

Patricia Moore, Virginia Water

Margaret Garret’s coronation party in Great Tarpots, South Benfleet, Essex featured a feather fight on a greasy pole 

‘The celebrations at our coronation party in Great Tarpots, South Benfleet, Essex, included a feather fight on a greasy pole.’

Margaret Garrett, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent

Helen Harle’s parents saw the Royal faces all lit up when they went to watch the fireworks by the Thames 

‘My parents were newlyweds living in London. They had tickets in the tiered seating along The Mall and went to the fireworks by the Thames later, with the Royal faces all lit up. My dad was a photographer. My mum remembered it pouring with rain and the Queen of Tonga going past in the parade in an open landau with a huge puddle in her skirt.’

Helen Harle, Devon

NAPPY AND GLORIOUS!

Liz Hotson wasn’t yet two when her mother dressed her up in an ‘England’s Glory’ hat, sash and sceptre

‘I’m England’s Glory at the front of this photo, aged almost two, in Tean, Staffordshire. My mother wrote to the match company England’s Glory and they sent the hat, the sash, the sceptre and the paper pictures that were sewn onto my dress.’

Liz Hotson, Bromham, Bedford

Maureen Lewis’s mum (far left) attended a coronation party in Grangetown, Cardiff

‘My mum is the lady on the left in the black jumper at a party in Grangetown, Cardiff.’

Maureen Lewis (nee Murphy), Newport

‘As a five-year-old I recall standing on the pavement behind several rows of people, unable to see anything and crying. A police officer heard me, removed his cape, laid it on the kerb and gave out instructions. I was passed over the heads of the crowd and sat on his cape. The royal coach passed as I waved enthusiastically and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh smiled and waved back. The memory will always remain with me.’

Rodney Kupczyk, Leighton Buzzard