A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Date | 12 May 1937 |
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Location | Westminster Abbey, London, England |
Budget | £454,000 |
Participants |
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The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Emperor and Empress consort of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.
Although the music included a range of new anthems and the ceremony underwent some alterations to include the Dominions, it remained a largely conservative affair and closely followed the ceremonial of George V's coronation in 1911. The ceremony began with the anointing of the King, symbolising his spiritual entry into kingship, and then his crowning and enthronement, representing his assumption of temporal powers and responsibilities. The peers of the realm then paid homage to the King before a shorter and simpler ceremony was conducted for the Queen's coronation. The return procession to Buckingham Palace was over six miles (9.7 km) in length, making it the longest coronation procession up to that time; crowds of people lined the streets to watch it, over 32,000 soldiers and sailors took part, and 20,000 police officers lined the route. The coronation was commemorated by the issuing of official medals, coinage and stamps, by military parades across the Empire, and by numerous unofficial celebrations, including street parties and the production of memorabilia.
The event was designed to be not only a sacred anointing and formal crowning, but also a public spectacle, which was also planned as a display of the British Empire. May 1937 included a programme of royal events lasting nearly the entire month to commemorate and mark the occasion. As a preliminary to the coronation, guests from across the Empire and around the world assembled at Buckingham Palace and official receptions were held to welcome them; among those attending were Indian princes and, for the first time, native African royalty. For the event itself, the prime ministers of almost every Dominion took part in the procession to the abbey, while representatives of nearly every country attended. Contingents from most colonies and each Dominion participated in the return procession through London's streets.
The media played an important part in broadcasting this show of pageantry and imperialism to the Empire. The coronation procession was an important event in the history of television, being the country's first major outside broadcast, although the ceremony inside the abbey was not televised. It was also the first coronation to be filmed, as well as the first to be broadcast on radio.
Background
Accession
In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king-emperor of the British Empire. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite Wallis Simpson had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to the shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson and had previously been divorced. The relationship had not been reported in the British press, but was receiving considerable media attention in the United States; it was controversial due to her being divorced with her previous spouse still living, a status considered incompatible with the King's position as the nominal head of the Church of England, which did not at that time permit remarriage after divorce if the previous spouse was still living.[1]
In October 1936 Simpson filed for divorce (which, when final, would result in two previous spouses still living), and the King informed the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, that he intended to marry her. Baldwin and several leading imperial administrators advised the King that popular opinion in the dominions was hostile to the proposed marriage; at home, the King also faced opposition from the Church of England and from factions in Parliament. The widespread unwillingness to accept Simpson as the King's consort, and Edward's refusal to give her up, led to his abdication in December 1936.[2]
He was succeeded by his next younger brother, George VI. Before his accession, George had been known as Prince Albert, Duke of York; his regnal name was chosen in honour of his late father. In 1923, he had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Coronation ceremony
Although the reign of the British monarch begins on his or her succession to the throne, the coronation service marks their formal investiture. In 1937, the ceremony was organised by a Coronation Committee, established by the Privy Council and chaired by the Lord President of the Council, a political appointment; its central component, the Executive Committee, was chaired by the Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the office of Earl Marshal, which carries with it, by convention, the responsibility for the organisation and coordination of the coronation ceremony.[3][4]
Preparation
Planning
The Coronation Committee had been delayed when it met for the first time on 24 June 1936: Ramsay MacDonald, the Lord President of the Council, met the Duke of Norfolk to discuss the proceedings; MacDonald would chair the Coronation Committee as a whole, and the Duke would chair the Executive Committee. While Edward VIII was away, cruising on the Nahlin with Wallis Simpson, his brother, Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI) sat in his place on the committees.[3] Edward VIII had initially been reluctant to have a coronation at all (asking the Archbishop of Canterbury whether it could be dispensed with), but conceded that a shorter service would be acceptable; his desire for a lower-key event led to the planned abandonment of the royal procession through London the following day, the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral and the dinner with London dignitaries.[5]
After the abdication of Edward VIII, the coronation committee continued to plan the event for George VI with minimal disruption; according to Sir Roy Strong, at the next meeting after the abdication "no reference was made at all to the change of sovereign, everything immediately being assumed to have been done for the new king."[6] After the abdication, though, many of the traditional elements that Edward VIII cared less for were restored, with Queen Mary taking an interest in the design of furniture and insisting on a more traditional appearance; indeed, much of the service and the furnishings were to closely resemble those of the 1911 coronation of George V.[7]
Archbishop of Canterbury
Although the Executive Committee was chaired by the Earl Marshal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, was also a driving force behind the preparations for the 1937 coronation; and many of the decisions about the order of service were made by or with him. He was an ex officio member of both the Executive Committee and the Coronation Committee, which dealt with the detail and, as such, he attended all of the rehearsals. He tended to take a leading role in the planning process, becoming a key mediator when queries arose, and dealing with questions of how the service should be broadcast by the media.[8] Lang also spoke to the nation through the BBC services in the run-up to Coronation Day; he saw the Coronation as an opportunity for the spiritual renewal of the nation, and he organised a campaign of evangelism called Recall to Religion, which he launched on 27 December 1936 with an address on BBC radio. He was also keen to ensure that the King and Queen understood the religious nuances of the service, and held two meetings with the couple beforehand.[9]
The Archbishop met the King and Queen on the evening before their coronation, running through the ceremony and explaining the most important parts. He was also concerned about King George's stutter and discussed the matter with Lord Dawson of Penn and Lord Wigram; Lionel Logue was then the King's speech therapist and the Archbishop discussed replacing him, but decided to monitor the King's improvement and Logue remained his therapist. As it happened, the King delivered his speech without stuttering.[9]
Construction
The coronation cost £454,000, which was more than three times the cost of the 1911 ceremony.[10] This cost included the construction of the annexe, which was built as a temporary add-on at the entrance of the abbey for each coronation. In previous years, it had taken the form of an imitation Gothic entrance, but, as a remnant of Edward VIII's modernising attitude, it was now an art-deco design, adorned with stylised heraldic beasts and tapestries belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch.[11] For each coronation, special seating was also constructed to accommodate the large number of guests; 1937 was the first year to make use of metal structures to support the seats, in the form of tubular steel. Four hundred tons were used alongside 72,000 cubic feet (2,000 cubic metres) of wood, with 400 men working on the construction. The theatre (the area in the transept for the first part of the ceremony) and sacrarium (the space in front of the high altar) were at floor level for the first time since the Restoration, having traditionally been raised on a platform.[12]
Imperial considerations
In 1911, standards of the Dominions—autonomous communities of the British Empire—were borne during the procession. But, after the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which established legislative equality between the Dominions and the United Kingdom, the actual service and coronation rite needed to be updated to reflect this change in political power within the Empire, which itself was beginning to be known as the Commonwealth. Furthermore, the fact that the service was an Anglican rite excluded other faiths and denominations; in 1937, several Dominions had premiers who were Catholic and, by that time, laws which previously excluded people from public office on religious grounds had been repealed.[13] The Coronation Committee altered the rite to reflect this change; the King now swore to maintain "the Protestant Reformed Religion only as established by law in the United Kingdom."[13] During Edward VIII's reign, a committee was established and chaired by the Duke of York to investigate how colonial representatives might be included within the ceremony. The committee failed, though, to implement any changes, except to the Coronation Oath. This was the first amendment to the oath since the coronation of King William III and Queen Mary II in 1689.[14]
Although 1937 saw an increase in the colonial contingents partaking in the procession and an official lunch in Westminster Hall was given to parliamentary representatives of Empire states for the first time, the service itself was barely altered to reflect the new status of the Dominions.[15]
Guests
The ceremony was attended by the King's and Queen's daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, as well as by the King's mother, Queen Mary.[16] When Mary attended the coronation, she became the first British dowager queen to do so.[17] Members of the extended royal family attended and all peers and members of parliament were invited. Leading colonial administrators, ambassadors, Indian princes[18] and premiers of the dominions were also on the guest list.[19] Working-class representatives included representatives of the trade unions and co-operative societies,[20] while native Africans were allowed to attend for the first time.[21]
British royal family
- Princess Elizabeth, the King and Queen's daughter
- Princess Margaret, the King and Queen's daughter
- Queen Mary, the King's mother
- The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood, the King's sister and brother-in-law
- Viscount Lascelles, the King's nephew
- The Hon. Gerald Lascelles, the King's nephew
- The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the King's brother and sister-in law
- The Duke and Duchess of Kent, the King's brother and sister-in law
- The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood, the King's sister and brother-in-law
- Princess and Prince Arthur of Connaught, the King's first cousin and her husband, the King's first cousin once removed
- Earl of Macduff, the King's first cousin once removed
- Lady Maud and Lord Carnegie, the King's first cousin and her husband
- The Queen of Norway, the King's paternal aunt
- The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, the King's first cousin and second cousin (representing his father, the King of Norway)
- Princess Helena Victoria, the King's first cousin once removed
- Princess Marie Louise, the King's first cousin once removed
- Lady Patricia Ramsay, the King's first cousin once removed
- Alexander Ramsay, the King's second cousin
- The Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the King's maternal uncle and aunt (also first cousin once removed)
- Lady May and Henry Abel Smith, the King's first cousin and her husband
- The Marquess and Marchioness of Carisbrooke, the King's first cousin once removed and his wife
- Lady Iris Mountbatten, the King's second cousin
- The Marquess and Marchioness of Milford Haven, the King's second cousin and his wife
- Lady Tatiana Mountbatten, the King's second cousin once removed
- Earl of Medina, the King's second cousin once removed
- Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten, the King's second cousin and his wife
- Patricia Mountbatten, the King's second cousin once removed
- The Marquess and Marchioness of Cambridge, the King's first cousin and his wife
- Lady Mary Cambridge, the King's first cousin once removed
- The Duchess and Duke of Beaufort, the King's first cousin and her husband
- Lady Helena Gibbs, the King's first cousin
- Lord Frederick Cambridge, the King's first cousin
Bowes-Lyon/Cavendish-Bentinck families
- The Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the Queen's parents
- The Lady and Lord Elphinstone, the Queen's sister and brother-in-law
- The Duke and Duchess of Portland, the Queen's first cousin once removed and his wife
- Lady Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck, the Queen's second cousin once removed
- Andrew Erskine-Wemyss, the Queen's second cousin once removed
Foreign royalty
- Sirdar Shah Wali Khan (representing his nephew, the King of Afghanistan)
- The Count of Flanders, the King's third cousin once removed (representing his brother, the King of the Belgians)
- The Prince of Preslav, the King's third cousin once removed (representing his brother, the Tsar of the Bulgarians)
- The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark and Iceland, the King's second cousins (representing his father, the King of Denmark and Iceland)
- Prince Mohammed Abdul Moneim (representing his first cousin once removed, the King of Egypt)
- The Crown Prince of Greece, the King's double second cousin (representing his brother, the King of the Hellenes)
- The Prince and Princess Chichibu (representing his brother, the Emperor of Japan)
- The Prince Consort of Luxembourg, husband of the King's third cousin (representing his wife, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg)
- Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the King's fifth cousin and her husband (representing her mother, the Queen of the Netherlands)
- The Grand Voevod of Alba Julia, the King's double second cousin once removed (representing his father, the King of the Romanians)
- The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (representing his father, the King of Saudi Arabia)
- Prince Chula Chakrabongse (representing his first cousin, the King of Siam)
- The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Sweden, the King's fourth cousin (also widower of the King's first cousin once removed) and the King's second cousin (representing his father, the King of Sweden)
- Seif Al Islam Hussein (representing his brother, the King of Yemen)
- Princess Paul of Yugoslavia and the Prince Regent of Yugoslavia, the King's second cousin and her husband (representing his first cousin once removed, the King of Yugoslavia)
Rulers of British protectorates
- The Emir of Transjordan
- The Sultan of Zanzibar
- The Sultan of Johor
- The Sultan of Terengganu
- The Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan
- The Sultan of Pahang
- The Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar
- The Maharaja of Jodhpur
- The Maharaja of Ratlam
Other foreign dignitaries
- Ekrem Bey Libohova (representing the King of the Albanians)
- Dejazmatch Makonnen Endelkachew (representing the Emperor of Ethiopia)
- Hassan Esfandiary (representing the Shahinshah of Iran)
- Sayid Raouf Al Chadirji (representing the King of Iraq)
- Conte Grandi (representing the King of Italy)
- Comte Henri de Maleville (representing the Prince of Monaco)
- Sir Kaiser Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana (representing the Maharajadhiraja of Nepal)
- James W. Gerard
- John J. Pershing
- Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg
- Maxim Litvinov
- Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov
- Yvon Delbos
- Alexis Leger
- İsmet İnönü
- Kâzım Orbay
- Józef Beck
- H. H. Kung
- Julián Besteiro
The abbey's doors were closed to guests at 8.30 on the morning of the coronation. The official record of the ceremonial, published in the London Gazette, describes the seating plan: "The Lords Spiritual were seated on the North side of the Area, or Sacrarium, the Lords Temporal in the South Transept, and the Dowager Peeresses and Peeresses in the North Transept."[22]
Procession to the abbey
Before the coronation ceremony begins, there is traditionally a lengthy procession to the abbey. The procession left Buckingham Palace and headed up The Mall, though Admiralty Arch, and down Whitehall, before entering Westminster Abbey.[4]
The first to take part in the procession were lesser members and relatives of the Royal Family and the representatives of foreign royalty and heads of state; they departed Buckingham Palace by car between 08:40 and 08:45 and arrived at the abbey ten minutes later; British and Dominion prime ministers followed half an hour later, leaving at 09:15. At 09:49, members of the Royal Family left the palace (Queen Mary's carriage left Marlborough House shortly afterwards at 10:13). The King and Queen then travelled in the Gold State Coach from Buckingham Palace at 10:43; their procession was by far the longest and included numerous military contingents and delegates from Britain, the Dominions, and the colonies, as well as members of the War Office, the Army, Naval and Air Boards and the personal aides-de-camp.[23]
Procession into the abbey
Foreign representatives
The first to arrive in procession were the royalty and foreign representatives; they arrived ten minutes after departing the palace. The royal members were led in by two officers of arms—the Bluemantle Pursuivant (R.P. Graham-Vivian) and the Portcullis Pursuivant (A.R. Wagner)—followed by two Gentleman Ushers (Captain Humphrey Lloyd and Colonel Vivian Gabriel), and were led to their seats in the royal gallery.[22]
The foreign representatives followed in at roughly 09:00 and were greeted by senior members of the Royal Household and the Diplomatic Corps.[nb 1] Led in by the Rouge Croix Pursuivant (P.W. Kerr) and the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant (E.N. Geijer); they were escorted to their seats in the choir.[24]
Regalia
Following tradition dating back to the reign of King Charles II, the regalia were brought to the Deanery of Westminster the night before the coronation. Staff started working at 4 a.m., while guests began arriving two hours later. The Imperial State Crown had been remade for the occasion by the Crown Jewellers, Garrard & Co.[25] Queen Elizabeth's crown was new and made from platinum; it featured the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the crown of Queen Mary.[26] Queen Elizabeth wore a gown made of silk satin, with pure gold thread embroidery in a rose and thistle pattern. The ermine-lined velvet robe had a floral pattern with a gold outline.[27] The goldwork on the gown and the robe was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.[28] The gown and the robe also featured designs patriotic to the British Empire. Created by Elizabeth Handley-Seymour, the toile featured the embroidered emblems of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the other dominions.[28] The national flowers that appeared on the robe included the South African protea and the Indian lotus flower.[28] Intertwined letter Es for Elizabeth were also embroidered on the robe.[29] Norman Hartnell dressed the maids of honour.[30]
While the litany was sung, the Choir led the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster down from the High Altar at 09:55; they were carrying the Crown Jewels and regalia, which they then deposited at the Vestibule. The Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office then handed the regalia to the Lord High Constable, who in turn handed them to the Lord Great Chamberlain; the items were then handed over to individual peers, who are listed below.[31]