The 60th Anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation Observed
June 4, 2013
The 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was celebrated today with a service at Westminster Abbey in London. The queen and 25 members of her family joined 2,000 guests for the service honoring the queen’s “60 years of commitment” to her people. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, praised the queen for embodying “the very nature of being British.” He stated that Elizabeth had set out on a path of “utter self-sacrifice” and had for 60 years shown “single-minded devotion and servant leadership” for which the nation owed her its thanks.
Elizabeth became queen upon the death of her father, King George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952. After a period of mourning, the queen was crowned on June 2, 1953. Elizabeth was the 38th British sovereign to be crowned in the Abbey, which has been the scene of such ceremonies since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. (AP/Wide World)
Several key items from her coronation were placed in the Abbey for today’s service, including the solid gold St. Edward’s Crown–removed from the Tower of London for the first time since 1953. (Britain’s famed crown jewels are kept at the Tower, where they are on public display.) The Coronation Chair, one of the oldest pieces of English furniture still in use, was also on display today. The throne was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I to contain the Stone of Scone, which he had captured from the Scots. The compartment below the seat no longer contains the stone upon which all British monarchs have since been crowned. It was returned to Scotland in 1996. It is to be returned to London temporarily when a British monarch is crowned.
Additional World Book articles:
- Scotland, History of
- United Kingdom, History of the
- United Kingdom 1953 (a Back in Time article)
- The Queen Mother: Creator of the Modern Monarchy (a special report)
