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 Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, was crowned queen
on June 2, 1953 at London's Westminster Abbey, in a ancient,
grand service whose origins date back 1,000 years.
In a very rare, personal account for a BBC documentary to be
aired on Sunday, she speaks candidly about the occasion and some
of the Crown Jewels which play a symbolic role in the ceremony.
"Horrible," she said of the ride in the four-tonne carriage from
Buckingham Palace to the abbey where English monarchs have been
crowned since 1066. "It's only sprung on leather, not very
comfortable."
Elizabeth, now 91, was just 25 when she became queen on the
death of her father George VI in 1952, with the coronation
taking place the following year.
"It's the sort of I suppose the beginning of one's life really
as a sovereign," she said. "It is sort of a pageant of chivalry
and old-fashioned way of doing things really. I've seen one
coronation (her father's in 1937) and been the recipient in the
other, which is pretty remarkable."
Giving her personal recollection, the queen also reveals how she
had struggled with her coronation dress, which was embroidered
in silk with pearls, and gold and silver thread.
"I remember one moment when I was going against the pile of the
carpet and I couldn't move at all," she said.
The documentary also features informal footage taken behind the
scenes, including images of son and heir Prince Charles, then
aged four, and his younger sister Anne playing underneath the
queen's long robe.
"Not what they're meant to do," the queen quips.
"DISADVANTAGES TO CROWNS"
Charles has previously revealed how his mother had practiced
wearing the 2.2 kg (4.9 lb) St Edward's Crown while he was being
bathed.
Elizabeth wore two crowns for the occasion: the St Edward's
Crown, which she has never worn since, and the diamond-encrusted
Imperial State Crown which she wears at formal occasions such as
the opening of parliament when she delivers a speech outlining
the government's legislative plans.
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"You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech
up. Because if you did, your neck would break and it (the crown)
would fall off," she said smiling. "So there are some disadvantages
to crowns but otherwise they're quite important things."
The documentary shows her peering inquisitively and then grinning as
she taps at pearls hanging on the 1 kg (2.3 lb) crown, two of which
are said to have been bought by her Tudor namesake Queen Elizabeth
I.
"They were meant to be Queen Elizabeth's earrings," she said. "They
don't look very happy now. Most pearls like to be living creatures
so they've just been hanging out here for years which is rather
sad."
Elizabeth has never given a formal interview during her long reign
and Coronation expert Alastair Bruce, whom the queen spoke to for
the program, said their 1-1/2-hour interaction had been a
"conversation".
"You don't ask the queen a direct question, so you pose a comment
that the queen then responds to," he told reporters.
He said he had the impression the queen was probably not fond of the
heavy crown and was "very practical" in her treatment of the crown
jewels.
He cited how during their conversation the crown had been slightly
out of the queen's reach so he asked the crown jeweler to help move
the table it was on a bit closer.
Instead, the queen herself pulls the table towards her.
Bruce said: "If you look very closely, the table suddenly just goes
'woomf' and the crown 'woomf' and the crown jeweler is left there
with nothing and she says 'well you know, it's my crown.'"
(Editing by Stephen Addison)
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