I only wish the album had chapter headings in the front, an index in the back and individually dated photos, to use as an-easy-to-analyse historical document.
In Jan 1936 King George V died.. so his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king. Edward was still single, but the American socialite, Wallis Simpson, had been close to him in the years leading up to 1936. She was divorced from her first husband and still married to her second husband, shipping executive Ernest Simpson. Edward and Wallis’ relationship had not been reported in the British press [because of the King's position in the Church of England].
King Edward's coronation ceremony was planned for 12th May 1937, and while he was away with Wallis Simpson, Albert Duke of York sat in his place on the committees. King Edward had initially been reluctant to have a coronation at all, but he allowed a shorter, simpler service.
In 1936 the King told the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he intended to marry Wallis. Baldwin and the Empire leaders advised the King that popular opinion in the dominions was hostile to the marriage; and at home he faced opposition from the Church and from Parliament. The wide spread reluctance to accept Simpson as the King's consort and Edward's refusal to give her up, led to his abdication in Dec 1936. Wallis’ second divorce was finalised in May 1937.
The pre-coronation procession, Trafalgar Square
With the abdication, King Edward was succeeded by his next brother, Prince Albert Duke of York and his wife Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore. It was decided to continue with King George VI and Elizabeth's coronation on the same date that had already been organised for brother Edward.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, spoke to the nation through the BBC services leading to Coronation Day; he saw the Coronation as an opportunity for the spiritual renewal of the nation, and organised a campaign of evangelism called Recall to Religion.
The Archbishop was somewhat concerned about King George's stutter even though Lionel Logue was still the King's speech therapist. Logue remained his therapist and the King did deliver his speech without stuttering!
Daily Herald, front page report
King George VI on his throne,
receiving blessing during the coronation,
King George taking the oath
King George VI on his throne,
receiving blessing during the coronation,
King George taking the oath
The ceremony was attended by the royals’ daughters, King's mother Dowager Queen Mary, royal cousins, peers, members of parliament, colonial administrators, ambassadors, foreign royals and heads of state, trade union representatives and members of the armed forces. Once the lengthy procession had made its way to the abbey, the royals travelled in their gold State Coach to the Abbey.
The Imperial crown had been remade for the occasion by the Crown Jewellers. Queen Elizabeth's crown was new and featured the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the crown of Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth wore a gown made of silk satin, with pure gold thread embroidery and British Empire icons.
The first part of the coronation service was the Recognition, where the Archbishop of Canterbury asked those present to proclaim the sovereign as their rightful king. The King knelt before the altar and swore on the Bible his coronation oath. The three archbishops then began the Communion Service and afterwards, the King and Queen knelt while the choir sang. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury anointed the monarch's head with oil and the choir sang Handel's Zadok the Priest. Adorned in his regalia, George was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the people proclaimed God save the King. The Archbishop presented the Bible to the King and the Benediction followed.
Each Archbishop knelt and paid homage to the King, followed by each of the Bishops and Dukes. The Queen was crowned and anointed in a much smaller and simpler ceremony. She was handed her Sceptre with the Cross and the Ivory Rod with the Dove.
Finally there was a procession through London's streets from Westminster Abbey, allowing the public to view the royals. They went via Parliament Square, up Victoria Embankment and all the way to Buckingham Palace. The progression included a huge number of military personnel from Britain and across the Empire.
This Coronation ceremony was the first one to be broadcast on radio. Microphones around the Abbey captured the music and speech such that the BBC's Empire Service broadcast the whole 2.5 hours. And talks by Ministers were broadcast under the name Responsibilities of Empire, presumably to further Britain's imperial ambitions. The coronation services were filmed and then shown as a newsreel in cinemas across the British Empire.
The post-coronation procession,
rounding Victoria Monument
The royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
After the ceremony itself, a 23-day-long programme of official events spanned May 1937 in a very public spectacle, to recapture the confidence of the nation after the abdication crisis. The public spectacles included a royal drive through north London, a luncheon at Guildhall with London dignitaries and the Empire Service of Youth in Westminster. The King and Queen inspected fleets, visited flagships and saw street parties decorated with flags.
The final coronation event was the Review of the Fleet, held at Portsmouth. The Empire was represented by warships.
The King marked his day by giving honours to his subjects, while appointments were made to the Orders of the Garter, Thistle etc. An official medal was also struck to mark the occasion, issued to 90,000 people from across the Empire.
Clearly the media played an important part in broadcasting this show of pageantry and imperialism to the Empire. But the National Archives also had many photographs of celebrations from across the British Empire: military parades, athletics events and religious services. The coronation was designed to be a public display of the glory of the British Empire.
coronation souvenir
Two years later WW2 began and the joy was over. Three years after the coronation, British cities suffered terrible bombardment from the Nazis.
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12 comments:
I wonder how different history would be if Edward was allowed to marry Wallis. I believe in the separation of church and state and I find it troubling that there is still a strong connection. Nevertheless, the younger royals don't seem too interested in religion, unlike Her Maj who does mention church and god often enough.
Was it just the Nazis or the country Germany itself that bombarded England? Just saying.
Lionel Logue made a major contribution to George's peace and Britain's pride.
Andrew
Edward was definitely allowed to marry Wallis, OR he could be crowned king. What he could not do was both. He ruled as king for less than a year, then gave up the throne (voluntarily) to marry the woman he loved.
The separation of church and state is interesting because every British king or queen is the symbolic head of the Church of England. So while all secular positions of authority must maintain the separation, Edward’s own church could hardly be dismissed by the head of that very church!
Joseph
My sole source of information was the film "The King's Speech". The film analysed the relationship between King George VI and Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist who cured the king of his stammer in time for his coronation. Logue must have been a genius; when Brits heard the live radio broadcast after the coronation, everyone thought the speech was perfectly normal.
Hi Hels - it certainly wa/is an interesting period in our history ... I hadn't realised (nor thought to check) about the 1936 Coronation Service being broadcast by the BBC ... thanks for this post on the 1936 Coronation. Cheers Hilary
Hello Hels, Although I dislike Wallace Simpson, I often say that the only good thing she ever did was to keep Edward from staying king of England.
George's coronation looked like a spectacular event, and was probably good for British morale as things were heating up in Europe.
--Jim
Hilary
the first section of the album goes back into the late 19th century, through the Edwardian era and WW1, then into the young years of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. There are even photos of citizens reading about the constitution crisis of King Edward VIII. But I cannot find a single photo of when Edward's father died in Jan 1936 nor of Edward's abdication in Dec 1936. Nor of Mrs Simpson. Only the words from Edward's abdication speech from Dec 1936 are included.
George's wedding (April 1923) and coronation (May 1937), however, are covered in detail.
Parnassus
I too disliked both Edward and Wallis, but not because each of them slept with every adult who breathed. But because Joachim von Ribbentrop, ambassador to Britain in 1936 and then Nazis' foreign minister, had been the duchess's lover. He wanted Edward to take the throne, keep it, marry Wallis and prepare for a friendly German takeover of Britain.
Perhaps that is what the Duke and Duchess were arranging, when they visited Germany in 1937 and were warmly welcomed by Hitler and other senior Nazis.
Disdain for Edward and Wallis Simpson is still strong in the UK. His Nazi sympathies are well-known and we are lucky not to have suffered them.
One of my earliest memories is of the 1953 Coronation and that gold coach and the street parties.
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Oh bazza.. I am in love. Not being a royalist, I am still delighted you saw the 1953 coronation and remember the street parties. My earliest memory was in 1954 when Queen Elizabeth toured Australia on a slow moving, open ended train. At my primary school, all the children were taken to a railway station where she waved to each of us :)
Dercy
Do you have a view on how the coronation was presented?
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