Title:SCENES FROM THE CORONATION YEAR [Allocated Title]
Film Number:MGH 4577
Other titles:CAPTAIN BLUNDELL AMATEUR FILM [Alternative Title]
Summary:Silent 8mm colour film highlights of the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953 and celebrations by the Royal Navy in honour of the event.
Description:START 00:00:00 Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June 1953: a long procession consisting of coaches and limousines, Yeomen of the Guard at the Tower of London, the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards, contingents of British and Commonwealth armed forces and police, royal guests and service chiefs through the centre of London on their way to Westminster Abbey, followed by the gilded royal coach in which the new monarch rides to her coronation. Views of Westminster Abbey and the Clock Tower, home to Big Ben. After the service, the royal procession and its huge retinue makes its colourful progress through the streets of London. Regal insignia and figurines in a pavilion near Westminster Abbey, street decorations and empty viewing stands after the spectators have melted away.
00:07:51 A Royal Navy parade in a naval barracks, Portsmouth.
00:08:29 Coronation Naval Review, Spithead, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, 15 June 1953. The name plate of the M/V Brading, an Isle of Wight ferry. An Algerine Class minesweeper and a Dido Class cruiser. The battleship HMS Vanguard dressed overall like all the warships seen here. A Westland Dragonfly helicopter flies overhead. The mass of grey steel includes several foreign vessels - the US Navy heavy cruiser USS Baltimore, the Soviet cruiser Sverdlov, the Spanish heavy cruiser Miguel Cervantes (?) and the Dominican Navy destroyer Trujillo (ex-HMS Hotspur). The new monarch reviews the long lines of warships from an enclosed viewing platform on the despatch vessel HMS Surprise, led by the Trinity House yacht Patricia. Following in their wake are the passenger liners SS Strathnaver, RMS Pretoria Castle and SS Orcades. A light aircraft carrier where viewing stands have been erected on its flight deck. Among the warships present is the Indian Navy cruiser Delhi (ex-HMS Achilles). A distant view of a formation of helicopters in flight.
00:111:54 Swans and a cygnet in one of the ponds in St James's Park, Whitehall. The Trooping the Colour in Horse Guards Parade, 11 June 1953.
00:14:18 Continuation of the Royal Navy parade in Portsmouth, in which a senior naval officer is seen arriving and taking the salute.
00:15:55 Scenes at the front of Buckingham Palace and the Royal Standard flying above it, denoting that the monarch is in residence.
END 00:16:52
Alternative Title:CAPTAIN BLUNDELL AMATEUR FILM [Alternative Title]
Colour:Colour
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:MGH 4577
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:IWM
Film: IWM
Featured Period:1945-1989
Production Date:1953-06-01-1953-06-01
Production Country:GB
Production Details:Blundell, George Collett (Production individual)
