Queen Elizabeth Celebrates 60 Years Since Coronation

Happy Anniversary
File photo dated 02/06/1953 of Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in Westminster Abbey.
File photo dated 02/06/1953 of Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in Westminster Abbey.
PA

The Queen celebrates the 60th anniversary of her Coronation on Sunday.

It is exactly 60 years since she made her way, as a young 27-year-old monarch, to Westminster Abbey to be crowned.

In 1953, more than 8,200 guests witnessed the historic proceedings and an estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the events unfold on television, but today the monarch is spending the anniversary privately.

She is expected to be at her favourite royal residence Windsor Castle, where she likely to attend church at a private chapel within the estate.

Last year's Diamond Jubilee was the focal point for national celebrations, with a river pageant down the Thames involving a flotilla of 1,000 boats, a concert in front of Buckingham Palace and a traditional service of thanksgiving at St

Paul's Cathedral.

The 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation in 2013 is a more low-key affair, with commemorations centring on the Queen's return to her Coronation church with a service for 2,000 guests in the Abbey on Tuesday June 4.

Joined by a strong supporting cast of royals including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, the monarch will listen to an address by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a reading by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The Coronation took place 16 months after the Queen acceded to the throne, allowing a period of mourning for her father King George VI and time to get the detailed preparations in place.

It was a day of pomp and pageantry as thousands took to the streets despite the rainy weather to see the Queen's procession.

On Monday June 3, the Queen's engagements will carry on as normal with a reception for the Royal National Institute for the Blind at St James's Palace.

On Friday June 7, the monarch will open the new BBC Broadcasting House in London and be shown an original television camera used during the Coronation and meet those involved in broadcasting coverage of the event.

In the summer, a four-day Coronation Festival is being held in the gardens of Buckingham Palace from July 11 to July 14.

Organised by the Royal Warrant Holders Association, the ticketed event, which has sold out, will showcase more than 200 of the brands which have supplied goods or services for at least five years to the Households of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh or the Prince of Wales.

Galas in the evening will include performances by Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson, Katie Melua and The Feeling.

Westminster Abbey is also staging a number of events to mark the milestone including Coronation! - a photography exhibition, which runs until September 27, charting the preparations at the Abbey ahead of the Coronation.

It will also hold Vivat Regina! - a free but ticketed public lecture on Coronations by the Bishop of London on June 7 - and a ticketed gala concert of Coronation music on June 13.

For its annual summer opening this year, Buckingham Palace will stage a special exhibition dedicated to the Coronation and display the outfits worn by the Queen and other members of the Royal Family.

The London Eye is today renaming its second pod the Coronation Capsule with a plaque-unveiling ceremony.

Amid the celebrations, the royals are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their newest member who will one day be crowned at their own Coronation.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby - a future king or queen - is due in July.

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