I clearly remember watching the present Queen's Coronation on a small black and white television. Those early ones were a great lump of
furniture, some with very attractive wood grain that had a small screen
set in them. Many televisions were ordered and bought especially for
the spectacle. This was the first time that a Coronation was going to be
screened live into vast numbers of peoples' households. While I cannot
honestly say I understood everything that occurred, I was very aware
that something unusual and different was about to happen. And, for this
day, lots of people were having a day at home. 
We were invited to a friend's house along with the rest of the family.
We were invited to a friend's house along with the rest of the family.
Owning a television or renting one, had not been commonplace. This
Coronation was an event, not just for its uniqueness, but also, it was a
major event I can say I saw through a grainy screen. I have clear
memories of the canopy being set in place at the ceremonial point of
anointing; Zadok The Priest, a musical flare that I stored in my memory;
the crown being held aloft and placed on the head of the new Monarch;
her, trailing down the aisle at Westminster with the crown balanced on
her head, (it looked a bit big) her ladies-in-waiting managing the
purple train, which was edged in ermine; finally, there are moments of
memory of the Golden Coach journey, smartly dressed footmen, like those
in fairy stories, and the horses hooves clattering their way back to the
Palace.
A relative who died a few years ago, related to me memories of two
coronations. For one she had received an invitation, not to attend
inside Westminster Abbey, but to be seated outside in stands constructed
specially for the day, on the route that the new King, (George VI)
would take in his coach back to Buckingham Palace. Her dad, a tailor,
had designed and made her a beautiful long skirted heavy dress coat from
tapestry cloth, for the occasion. The ticket holders had to arrive
several hours earlier than the scheduled time for the grand parade.
Negotiating with the policemen to leave the stands to visit the toilet,
she said, was an art in diplomacy. 
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2 comments:
Watching over the weekend, we were wondering about the practicalities of going to the toilet!
Now you know, Jennyta. I doubt much has changed in that department. It struck me as being upmarket kettling. There's nothing new, is there. What differs is what it it called and when it is described thus.
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