Queen's 60th Coronation

From the BBC:
"Queen marks Coronation anniversary at Westminster Abbey"

The Queen has joined 2,000 guests for a service at Westminster Abbey to mark 60 years since her Coronation. Some of those who took part in the 1953 service were among the congregation. Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby said the event honoured "60 years of commitment". The Queen was accompanied by more than 20 members of her family, including the Duke of Edinburgh, who pulled out of an engagement on Monday night because he was feeling unwell. Several key items from the Coronation were placed in Westminster Abbey for the service.

They included the heavy, solid gold St Edward's Crown, displayed on the High Altar - the first time it has left the Tower of London since 1953.  Beside it was the Ampulla, the gold, eagle-shaped bottle from which the holy oil was poured for the Queen's anointing. The Coronation Chair, one of the oldest pieces of English furniture still in use, was also on show.  The Queen and Prince Philip entered Westminster Abbey to the same music that greeted her in 1953.  Back then, aged 27, she was the 38th sovereign to be crowned in an abbey that has been the scene of such ceremonies since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066. At the time the Coronation was a major television spectacle, with an estimated 27 million Britons tuning in.  The weather was dull and wet, but warm sunshine greeted those gathering in London for the anniversary on Tuesday. The Archbishop said the Coronation had been "the first time the whole nation had watched anything as it happened".  He called it "pomp and ceremony on a rainy June day, all so very British, wrapped in time and custom".Her Majesty wore an Angela Kelly dress, hat and coat - made from oyster-coloured silk-satin brocade - for the anniversary service. She was joined at the abbey by the Prince of Wales - who was just four in 1953 - and the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as the Duke of Cambridge and the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.

It is the first time the couple, whose first baby is due next month, have attended a public event at the abbey since they married there two years ago. Other royals present include Prince Harry, the Duke of York, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor, the Princess Royal and Zara Phillips with her husband Mike Tindall. The congregation sang the National Anthem before UK Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reading from the Book of Kings. Secretary general of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma also gave a reading. The Coronation was a strictly Anglican Christian event, but 60 years later Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other faiths were represented. Last year's Diamond Jubilee marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.

^ Many people assume that last year's Diamond Jubilee was the end of the celebration, but as the saying goes: "The King/Queen is dead. Long live the Queen/King." That means that the minute the reigning monarch dies their heir automatically assumes the post. So Queen Elizabeth 2nd became the monarch in 1952 when her father died, but waited the customary period of mourning before she was officially crowned. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22762878