The people hail their new Queen
Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI. Her Coronation was more than a year later, at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. We’ve taken a look back at how these momentous occasions in Bri
“A King is mourned – the people hail a Queen"
“Long may she reign” With these words the Maidenhead Advertiser reported on the death of King George VI and the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II in an edition published on February 8, 1952.
The Advertiser reported: “When the King’s death was announced on Wednesday, the news spread quickly among the people, although many who had not heard the BBC announcement personally, at first hesitated to believe it.
“Their wishes and hopes, that His Majesty was regaining strength and recovering from illness, made it seem incredible that the Sovereign’s death could have come so unexpectedly.”
The newspaper shared a message from the mayor, who described the new Queen’s links with the Maidenhead area.
It read: “Our new Queen, as a small girl, took some of her earliest riding and driving lessons at the Holyport school of Mr Horace Smith. With her sister Princess Margaret, she has, on several occasions attended the annual Ascot Ball at the Guards’ Club.”
On Friday, February 8, 1952, a short ceremony was held outside Maidenhead Town Hall, where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was proclaimed in accordance with tradition.
Following the King’s funeral, the February 22 edition of the Advertiser featured a portrait of the new Queen with a simple message: “Long may she reign.”
For the Queen’s Coronation, ‘all Maidenhead celebrated royally in spite of cold, wind and rain’.
A children’s fancy dress parade took place in Kidwells Park, while the Advertiser launched a Coronation essay competition for schoolchildren. The prize was a Coronation Coach display which was attracting attention in the window of the newspaper’s Queen Street offices.
An estimated 5,000 people turned out to dance in the High Street and watch a bonfire on the Moor. The dancing continued until 1.15am.
It was standing room only on the 3.43am Coronation Special train from Maidenhead to London on the big day.
About 200 Maidonians boarded the train, which had also stopped at Twyford to pick up a large contingent from Henley.
A fortnight of celebrations followed the Coronation and ‘with prayer and self-dedication, fancy dress and carnivals, Maidenhead celebrated the crowning of a Queen’.
“For nearly a year town and village had prepared and the efforts have had their reward,” said the Advertiser.
“But it was the television which, for the first time, took John Citizen into the Abbey, enabling him to share in the events which were the heart of the matter.
“In a very real sense Elizabeth was crowned in the homes of her subjects.”