Earliest memories

As a royal biographer it is perhaps fitting that my earliest memories are those surrounding the coronation in 1953. I was only small (to my annoyance, too young to go to the children’s street party in the road round the corner as I wasn’t school age) but I remember flags on the porch outside our house. We were one of the few houses in our road to have a television and on the big day the neighbours came in to watch and enjoy the buffet laid out by my mother and grandmother. I still remember one particular shot of the golden coach returning to the palace round the Victoria Memorial and many years later I was able to pick out the exact moment when the film was shown on TV again. My grandmother made me a blue dress with a pattern of coronation coaches around the bottom of it and I wore it proudly.

I grew up in West London and that year, the Queen went to the FA Cup Final. We stood on the roadside by Gunnersbury Park (me wearing my coronation dress) and as the royal car slowed to turn the corner had a chance to wave to the Queen.

I think my lifelong interest in history and royalty began then!