‘How much paraphernalia from royal jubilations do you have?’
This time next week, coronation mania will be reaching fever-pitch. There will be no escape from the near-continuous TV coverage and wall-to-wall red, white and blue bunting! I’m attending an international radio conference in Spain this week and as it’s customary to exchange small gifts with my conference colleagues, I’ve been buying coronation memorabilia and souvenirs to woo my fellow delegates.
From a rather nice bone china coronation mug (which I’d quite like to keep) to a plastic Camilla keyring which proclaims “I’m The Queen” when you press her crown – I think I’ve got all tastes covered!
It’s made me wonder how much paraphernalia from royal jubilations, and even the last coronation, many of us have. I know my parents still have souvenirs from June 1953. My first memory of a royal occasion was the investiture of Charles as Prince of
Wales in 1969; I remember being ushered into the junior school hall to watch the ceremony on a tiny black and white TV. Only weeks later, we were gathered around the same TV to witness Neil Armstrong take ‘one small step’ on the moon. The Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 also holds special memories for me, as it was at one of the jubilee celebrations that I met my wife to be!
Fast forward several years, and one of my first assignments when I joined the BBC as a trainee engineer was to work with one of outside broadcast teams covering the wedding of Charles and Diana. I was stationed with a film crew in The Strand, as the procession made its way along Fleet Street towards St Paul’s. Every time I see archive footage on TV from that glorious day, I always wonder whether it is from one of my camera shots!
The past year, of course, has seen several momentous royal events, culminating with the first (and maybe only) coronation some of us will witness in our lifetimes.
So, have you received your invitation to the big day at the palace? No, me neither, but there’s still an opportunity to feel like a King (or Queen!) with a royal upgrade to Goodwood’s season opener race day on May 6, courtesy of V2 Radio! You can rejoice in the festivities of a street party atmosphere against the backdrop of the beautiful South Downs and get admission to the Gordon Enclosure for a fraction of the usual price. Check the V2 Radio voucher shop on our website at www.v2radio.co.uk … and I’ll see you there!