April 29, 2023

The Churchill Family at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

By WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

In his Memoirs and Adventures, the namesake grandson of Sir Winston Churchill wrote about the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953, which, for the Churchills, was very much a family occasion. It is reprinted here with permission.

Towards the end of 1952 when I was twelve years old, I received a most exciting invitation. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Portal of Hungerford, who had commanded the RAF for much of the war as Chief of the Air Staff, invited me to be his page at the Coronation. In a letter to my mother he wrote:

I have been appointed by the Queen to bear the “Sceptre with the Cross” and must have a page (12–15 & under 5 ft 5 in tall) to carry my coronet. I think the pages are bound to get a close-up view of the actual crowning but don’t yet know exactly where they stand.

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He made mention of the fact that it would involve some rehearsals and that the clothes would cost £200!

As may be imagined I was thrilled at the prospect of being a page at the Coronation, not least for the fact that it would mean getting away from school on at least three occasions, including twice for rehearsals. The most immediate requirement was to be measured up for my uniform which was very splendid and consisted of white breeches worn with white silk stockings and black patent leather buckle-shoes, a white satin waistcoat surmounted by a black and silver frock coat with azure blue cuffs. At my neck I wore a lace ruff and, at my left side, a sword.

For the first rehearsal in May [1953] all those with specific parts to play in this splendid and ancient ceremony, excepting only the sovereign, were assembled in Westminster Abbey. We were directed to our places, under the eagle eye of the Duke of Norfolk, the hereditary Earl Marshal of England, and told precisely what was required of us at each point in the ceremony, from the highest functionaries of Church and State down to the smallest page boy….Though short of stature and ruddy of face and, viewed from across the great expanse of the Abbey, looking like nothing so much as Mr. McGoo, the Duke of Norfolk, trailing a long microphone lead behind him, instantly asserted his authority over the proceedings by the brusqueness of his commands but, above all, by his precise knowledge of every detail of the ceremony.

There was a splendid moment when the Early Marshal commanded the Archbishop of Canterbury: “Archbishop! Pray bring the crown!” The Archbishop shuffled off into a corner and reappeared a few moments later bearing a crown in his hands. The Earl Marshal took one look at it from a distance and instantly proffered the stinging rebuke: “Archbishop! That is the wrong crown! Pray bring St. Edward’s Crown!” It had an electric effect on the assembled company and, thereafter, each one of us, from the Chiefs of Staff downwards, determined not to give the Earl Marshal any ground for offering us so stinging a public rebuke.

For the dress rehearsal, just a few days before the great occasion, my mother supervised my turnout in minute detail, arranging for my hair to be cut and giving the barber precise instructions as to how it was to be done. No sooner had we arrived at the Abbey than I was accosted by Field Marshal Montgomery who could never readily restrain his instinct to be a busybody: “Boy, Tell your mother to get your hair cut before the day!”

Finally the great day arrived. Though my principal concern was not to trip over my sword or drop Lord Portal’s coronet, at the point in the ceremony where I approached closest to the Throne I could not restrain a sideways glance at the mesmeric beauty and radiance of our young Queen. I was amazed that one so slight could bear the weight of the crown—over four and a half pounds—with such apparent ease. Grandpapa, as Prime Minister, wearing the robes of a Knight of the Garter, had a prominent place and Father [Randolph Churchill] who, for the occasion, had been appointed a Gold Staff Officer, was also present.

Afterwards my grandparents gave a luncheon at Number 10, whither we made our way through the streets still packed with wildly cheering crowds, many of whom had camped on the pavement for three or four nights to secure positions of vantage. At Downing Street, Grandmama [Clementine] had arranged for all three generations of participating Churchills, Grandpapa, Father, and me, to be photographed together in our finery and regalia. It was a proud and memorable day.

This is the third in a three-part series looking at the Coronations which the Churchills attended. The March issue of the Bulletin looked at the Coronation of King George V in 1911 and last month’s issue looked at the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. The Coronation of King Charles III is scheduled for 6 May.