The best photos from Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation – and what we can expect for King Charles

Queen Elizabeth’s coronation took place at a time when many felt it appropriate and necessary for the royal family to put on an extraordinarily lavish coronation. And that it was, from the Gold State Coach to the 8000 invited guests present at Westminster to the post-coronation procession to Buckingham Palace that was made up of around 250 individuals. This photo of said procession perfectly captures the “magnificence of the public spectacle,” Gullace notes.

On the other hand, the opulence on display did not resonate well with everyone. It may even have tarnished Queen Elizabeth’s legacy to some extent. Indeed, some still bristle about it to this day, along with the royal family’s astonishing net worth. Koenig says we can expect King Charles’s coronation to be far more understated, with a shorter program and smaller procession taking a shorter route through London.

Looking radiant as she returns to Buckingham Palace after the coronation, the queen is wearing the Imperial State Crown and, although it’s not visible here, a ceremonial robe. Although the queen could have opted for the coronation robe worn by her father, the Imperial Robe, she chose to have one custom-made that was far more ornate. Six metres long and crafted with velvet and silk, Elizabeth’s “Robe of Estate” required 3500 hours of work by 12 seamstresses selected from among the best at Britain’s Royal School of Needlework.

It’s possible King Charles III will, likewise, have his own custom ceremonial robe. However, since the new king has a more modest ethos, it’s more likely that he’ll go with the Imperial Robe worn by his grandfather.

Queen Elizabeth was a mother of young children, and that helped make her seem relatable, Gullace says. This photo of the queen, her husband and their two young children, taken post-coronation on Buckingham Palace’s balcony, brings that point home.

That sort of relatability may be a reach for King Charles, however, given that he ascended the throne at age 73. Moreover, his heir apparent is no longer a little boy, but rather, the middle-aged Prince William of Wales, who comes with his own heir apparent (plus two spares, not to mention his wife, the Princess of Wales, formerly known as Kate Middleton). If Prince George and his siblings are present on the Buckingham balcony on May 6, it should be an enormous crowd-pleaser, but it still may not resonate quite as much as this vision of a waving buck-toothed preschooler and his baby sister.

Here are 12 things you didn’t know about King Charles III.

Thanks to both the large family of Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert (they had nine children), and Queen Victoria’s successful royal matchmaking across Europe with regard to her children, the British royal family’s extended family is large. It also intersects with the royal families of numerous other European countries, including Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

This photo, which includes many members of the extended European royal family, emphasizes that point—and charmingly, at that. Gullace points out that Queen Elizabeth‘s “beaming smile made her a beloved icon” and “cherubic Charles and Princess Anne did much to humanise the early years of Elizabeth’s reign.”

Although most of the people in this photo are long gone, many of their descendants will be present at King Charles’s coronation. One can only hope that someone will think to assemble them for a then-and-now-type photo opportunity!

Some speculate the reason Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was delayed for nearly 16 months was that her first prime minister, Winston Churchill, used the delay as a means for extending his tenure as prime minister for as long as possible. (His political power was diminishing, but it would have been considered bad form for a prime minister to leave office during the period between the monarch’s accession and coronation.) But others maintain a several-month delay is customary out of respect for the deceased monarch, and the fact that the queen’s coronation was delayed for longer also reflects the extensive planning the opulent event required.

As for that opulence, Gullace notes that Churchill was instrumental in it, having made a campaign promise to make the British Empire great again. That included doing away with the restraint that characterised the World War II years. “The ceremony became a means by which to demonstrate Britain’s ancient glory and the thousand-year-old tradition of the monarchy,” Gullace tells Reader’s Digest.

Had Queen Elizabeth’s coronation happened sooner, this photo—of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (Elizabeth’s mother and namesake) and Princess Margaret (Elizabeth’s sister)—might have included Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother, Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. But Mary, whose own coronation occurred along with her husband’s in 1911, died in March 1953 at the age of 81.

This might have pushed off Elizabeth’s coronation for even longer than 16 months, but Koenig says that Queen Mary, before her death, explicitly requested that Elizabeth’s coronation not be delayed because of this. As it was, Queen Mary was able to enjoy the distinction of being the first British queen to witness the accession of her grandchild to the throne.

Find out what to expect at King Charles’s coronation: The details and traditions explained.

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Source: RD.com