Right royal revelation: crown pain in the neck

QUEEN Elizabeth has given her first detailed account of her coronation almost 65 years ago, joking that the crown was so heavy it could have broken her neck.

In a very rare TV appearance, a wry and relaxed Queen Elizabeth chatted with royal commentator Alastair Bruce about the moment on June 2, 1953, she became sovereign, 16 months after her father, King George VI, had died.

The 91-year-old monarch revealed that the ride through the streets of London and from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey was “horrible’’ due to the poor suspension in the solid-gold, horse-drawn carriage, and that her ceremonial gowns were so heavy she became stuck and could not move forwards when they dragged against the pile of the carpet in the Abbey.

The Queen witnessed her own father’s coronation as a child in 1937, and looking back on the solemn, three-hour ceremonies and 1000-year-old rituals, she comments: “It’s the sort of, I suppose, the beginning of one’s life really as a sovereign. It is sort of a pageant of chivalry and old-fashioned way of doing things. I’ve seen one coronation and been the recipient in the other, which is pretty remarkable.”

The Queen’s appearance on the BBC1 show The Coronation, which has just gone to air in the UK and will be replayed in Australia in February.

The Queen received widespread praise for her good humoured approach and witty, honest answers about the coronation, which was broadcast on TV to 300 million viewers and was the world’s first globally televised event.