Pared-back parade mirrors modern era
WHEN the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II emerged resplendent from Westminster Abbey to lead her coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace, her route was lined with crowdfilled stands and wave after wave of cheers greeted her.
However, the King’s Coronation, on May 6, will reflect the times in which we live and will be notably reduced, taking a more direct route and comprising far fewer participants.
The King has opted not to replicate his mother’s five-mile journey, on June 2 1953, that took in Regent Street, Oxford Street and Park Lane and will return to the palace via Whitehall, Admiralty Arch and The Mall.
The procession will also be pared back, with a single mounted escort, provided by the Household Cavalry.
This Sovereign’s Escort will be “found” by The Life Guards, the most senior regiment of the British Army.
In 1953, the grand procession from the Abbey comprised more than 12,000 military personnel who formed a twoand-a-half mile cavalcade.
It took 45 minutes to pass each spot, lined with flag-waving well-wishers, many of whom had camped out overnight. A further 16,000 service personnel lined the route. The procession involved so many carriages that some had to be borrowed from Elstree film studios, Hertfordshire.
It is thought that the King’s procession will include representatives from the Army, RAF and Navy but is unlikely to feature personnel from Commonwealth nations or foreign leaders.
Regardless, a royal source insisted that the procession would be “amazing in both scale and splendour”.
They added: “Of course it will be smaller than in 1953, but it will be more impressive than anything since seen on the streets of London.”