Day that Britain fell in love with television
THERE was never a wiser second thought than that which finally, and after much controversy, allowed television within the Abbey yesterday.
It brought to 25 million people a sublime experience that none who watched will easily forget — and Britain’s relationship with the electronic box in our living rooms will never be the same again.
True to its promise, television showed us everything there was to see, apart from two four- minute breaks during the Anointing and the Queen’s taking of the Sacrament. During the Anointing we were shown a still image of the altar cloth and heard the voice of the Archbishop of Canterbury; during the Sacrament we saw the representation of the Last Supper.
For four minutes there was utter silence, broken at last by the high, clear trebles of the choir as they began O Taste And See.
At other times, the cameras ranged freely, to achieve an overwhelming triumph of spectacle. Sometimes as when the camera in the South Transept shot across the Throne towards the Altar, the pictures were almost three-dimensional in clarity.
Sometimes cameras ‘ zoomed’ in for a close shot of the Queen. We watched her sitting enthroned in the Robe Royal, her face firm and determined, her hands clasped in composure on her lap.
The camera caught three of those casual moments which will long be remembered: Prince Charles standing between the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, his elbows resting on the balcony of the Royal Box; the Duke of Edinburgh adjusting his coronet after taking the Oath of Homage; the Queen patting her hair as the Crown was removed.
The most memorable shots of all came, perhaps, with the entry of the Grand Procession. Cameras looking down over the empty Theatre and the Aisle, held the scene as the procession, led by what Richard Dimbleby felicitously called ‘a blaze of Heralds’, advanced through the West Door to fill the screen.
And, again, at the end, when cameras cut to and fro in perfect timing with the National Anthem as the Queen, now smiling faintly, moved into the Abbey Annexe.
And so majesty, beauty and splendour passed from our sight (Dimbleby’s phrase again).
Finally, viewers saw the traditional popular climax of all State occasions — the surge forward as the crowd round the Victoria Memorial broke against the railings of the Palace in one huge, shouting wave.
TV’s biggest zoom lens brought the Queen into a close-up as she stood with her husband and children on the balcony, waving and smiling as the RAF salute soared overhead. Magnificent!