Coronation of King George VI: Westminster Abbey 1937

[Music] all the world looks for London and half the world seems to be here on this day of day the day that we'll write a new page in history the day that will be remembered by the children grandchildren and great-grandchildren of all the waiting millions on this dowel spring morning - the clouds that have been here in front of Buckingham Palace all night the day's first excitement is a motor-car procession of the fallen representatives which leaves for the a day before 9 o'clock [Applause] every moment the thrill of excitement increases innumerable few glasses cameras and telescopes are focused on the gentlest swaying mass at a quarter past nine comes the carriage procession of Prime Minister's representatives of India Burma and the colony in the first is mr. Stanley Baldwin and in turn behind him come mr. McKenzie king of Canada mr. Lyons of Australia mr. savage of New Zealand general health dog of South Africa so Mohammed calm of India dr. Moore of Burma and mr. Huggins of Southern Rhodesia then with a cache of the salute and the mountain escort of the Royal Horse Guards the procession of members of the royal family in the first carriage you can just see their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret rose with the Princess Royal in the second the Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Gloucester and the batches of Kent the excitement of two millions is rising to fever heat their Majesties procession to the Abbey is on its way [Music] and with a passing of rest plates and the Catterick hooves the moment has come the moment that the whole world is waiting and watching for with a dignified slowness that makes it all seem as if it were some gigantic dream the great gilded state coach moves forward in the palace forecourt and here it comes bringing with it symbolized now royal family all the history and tradition of Britain and the Empire it's almost unbelievably grand the sort of superb show that takes your breath away [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] round the Victoria Memorial and down the mallet goes the walking pace and alongside it does the role of cheering spreading like a slow fire ahead of their Majesties procession come the little royal princesses and the royal duchesses all eyes are on the glistening steel and flashing saw just in front of the coach ride the honorary Indian aides to his majesty and the coach itself is drawn by a team of eight windsor gray [Applause] working immediately behind the coach is the man who puts the brake on when it stops then the field marshal commanding the troops the royal standard and the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent riding in their capacity as personal aides to the key [Music] but most brilliant in the glittering array is the coach itself surely the most beautiful in all the world [Applause] it was built nearly 200 years ago and a tight once called it a free translation into carved and gilded imagery of all up convent radition of British royalty but the focal centre of it all is the two figures inside the coach the loyal son of a great king and his gracious lady to whom today must be the climax of their life [Applause] [Music] you [Music] through the Admiralty Arch and across Trafalgar Square where Nelson looks down on saving millions there comes first again the Dominion premiers then the royal family the princesses with the Princess Royal the royal duchesses whose husbands are riding behind the state code and an extra-special loud roar for Queen Mary riding with her sister-in-law the queen of Norway [Applause] and the royal procession the Dominion and colonial escorts the Yemen of the guard the Indian escort and the detachments of infantry [Music] the Royal Navy and here it's the royal navy lining the route as well [Music] [Music] then down Whitehall past the Senate AB and into Parliament Square where the procession enters the most historic part of the Royal route to the Abbott past Big Ben the most famous talk in the world past Westminster Hall where the kings of old held their coronation banquets and past the houses of parliament to the added Church of Westminster the church that was built by King Edward the Confessor over a thousand years ago and where for a thousand years Britain's Kings have been crowned and remember that still today it's the crown of Edward the Confessor that plays the most important part in the coronation service but within an hour were rest on the head of King George the sick and make him King [Music] [Applause] [Music] behind the Yemen of the guard comes the king's barge master but he felt some otras Fame there he is and the king's 12 Waterman who used to have the honor of rowing the royal barge on the Thames in the days when royal barges weren't driven by high powered engines in front of the coach ride the Indian a [Applause] outside the addy the clouds are dazzled by the glitter of gold and tools as first little princesses in the Princess Royal arrive meanwhile inside eight thousand guests have already been assembled for over two hour and at the door the Earl marshal of England the Duke of Norfolk is waiting to receive their Majesties every pair wears he's earned in unstable and carries his coronet which he weren't placed on his head until the exact moment that King George the sixth is crowned the piracies also carry their colonies which they'll put on when the platinum and diamond crown touches the head of Her Majesty the Queen other members of the royal family arrive and then just before the royal position itself Queen Mary and Queen Maud of Norway [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] that's King George the sixth then Queen Elizabeth enter Westminster Abbey for their coronation taking with them the loyalty and prayers of every one of us on him the crown is safe long may it rest there we are inside the abbey for the most solemn and dramatic pictures that have ever appeared on the screen the ceremony that has remained unchanged for a thousand years inside the West door the members of the royal family take their places the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret rose with the Princess Royal [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] possession of Her Majesty the Queen moves up the nave to be greeted after the anthem by the scholars of Westminster School with a vive at Regina [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] the procession of His Majesty the King [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] his majesty is greeted by the Westminster scholars with a vive a trick [Music] [Applause] the Archbishop of Canterbury asks all those present whether they recognize their king they cry out God save King George I feel presented to you King George your unselfish king well for all your work on this game the group your immediate service are you willing to do the same three times more the archbishop repeats the question until he has faced in turn the four points of the compass thus the eight thousand people inside the abbey first to claim their sovereign then his Majesty will go to the chair of the state to take the coronation oath meanwhile the regalia which have been carried by the Lord's in the procession are placed by the Dean of Westminster upon the altar the King prepares to take the oath the archbishop asks him if he will solemnly promise to govern the people of Great Britain Ireland Canada Australia New Zealand and the Union of South Africa of your position and the other territories to any of them belonging or pertaining and of your empire of India according to their respective laws and customs solemnly Foundation so to do will you to your power both law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgment I will still sitting in the chair of a state the king signs the oath twice he dipped his pen in the ink now he would disrobe for the most sacred part of the service the anointing with holy oil the Knights of the Garter will bring the canopy of cloth of gold [Music] [Applause] the anointing he like dress anointed with holy oil he died on I treat with holy oil after the anointing the secular and sacred characters of the coronation merge the super Tunica or over dress of caught of gold is put upon the King a girdle of the same material is caught around his waist the Lord Chamberlain touches his heels with the golden Spurs of knighthood from the altar the archbishop brings the jeweled sword of state thus is symbolized in the King the merging of the temporal and divine power six kingdoms of thought now from the author of dust and is ever filled by the hands of us the bishops and servants of God whoa unworthy the sword is get about the king by the Lord great Chamberlain to justice how's the growth of iniquity projects the whole exerts of God health and defend widows and offered and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life that you may reign for aha with him in the light which is the son the king angered the sword and going towards the altar opposite in the scabbard to the archbishop the peer who first received the sword redeems it for the price of one hundred shilling and during the remainder of the service he carried it naked before the king the army'll or color is based on the king by the Dean of Westminster the Dean invests him with the mantle of cloth of gold shaped square like the cope of a bishop and richly adorned with the Eagle of empire his majesty takes the orb with a cross the material world and all and the Lord your God and yo-yo with knowledge and wisdom with nothing cleared with power from a high the sovereign receives the ring a great sapphire slashed with a cross of rubies the lord of the manor of workshop presents the glove his majesty takes the sceptre with the cross the symbol of his earthly path and the sceptre with the Dove the symbol of divine guidance now every eye is riveted on the sand Edward's crown that the Archbishop of Canterbury lifted from the altar and the Dean of Westminster bears it to where the King sits in the colonnade chair the Archbishop of Canterbury takes it raises it with solemnity lowers it on the royal brow the king is crowned appears acclaim their sovereign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the King leaves the austere coronation chair to take his golden throne for the homage all the great officers of state group in dazzling array around the sovereign in their majestic sweeping robes tears of the realm will pay homage one by one at the feet of King George the sick then rise one by one to touch his Majesty's crown and kiss his left cheek first the archbishop then the Duke of Gloucester the Duke of Kent and the Earl marshal the Duke of Norfolk [Music] [Music] since the beginning of the service a Majesty the Queen has been sitting in the chair of a state now she moves forward for her anointing for Paris's bring the golden canopy the Queen kneels of the altar the archbishop will pour the holy oil upon the crown of her head he will put the Queen's ring upon the fourth finger of her right hand the archbishop brings the crown from the altar sets it upon the Queen's Head receive the finest valor on and go the archbishop puts the Sept turn to our right hand the ivory rod with a dug into her left the Queen moves across to pay homage to the king that rain is borne by the mistress of the robes and the ladies in waiting after the Queen and her ladies have bowed in homage Her Majesty will take her place on the throne then the king and queen will move forward towards the altar and end us and Edwards Chapel where the King will exchange the sin Edward's crown for the Imperial state crown which he will wear on the state drive back to Buckingham Palace you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's consecrated and crowned their Majesties walk in procession through the nave inquire to leave the Abbey the coronation is over [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this morning there were seven processions making their separate ways to the edit now for the state drives back to Buckingham Palace on an afternoon that's fast turning into a drizzle they are all joined into one amazing cavalcade so long that even before the state coach is taken up its royal burden at Westminster the head of the procession is crossing Piccadilly Circus more than two and a half miles ahead there are looks out from behind the safety of a wooden hoarding because II Ross isn't exactly designed as a grandstand the first part of the procession is made up of the colonial contingents bernie's contingents and one from each of the dominions passing below is the band of the Canadian government behind it the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police [Music] the Royal Horse Artillery and the cavalry of the line [Music] [Music] the band and pipes of the Scots Guards [Music] the end of the sixteenth fifth Lancer [Music] also on horseback are the Indian orderly officers the Kings Air Force Army and Navy aides the home commanders in chief the field marshals the air and army councils the board of Admiralty and the sea Lords a battery of the Royal Horse Artillery and marching superbly as ever the Royal Navy meanwhile at this moment the Duchess of Gloucester and the Duchess of Kent are leaving the abbey to ride in a glass coach in the part of the procession which comes immediately in front of Her Majesty Queen Mary [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret rose come out to ride this time in the copse with our grandmother Queen Mary and now Queen Mary herself leaves the Abbey after what must have been to her the supreme joy of seeing her son crowned to carry on the tradition but she is so long and so nobly upheld [Music] [Applause] from inside the abbey the voice of the choir rises in the national anthem and awaiting world knows that Britain's new king and queen are coming out to receive a nation's humming while the returned drive his Medici is wearing the Imperial state crown in one hand he will carry the orb in the other the sceptre with the cross that's with all the outward and visible signs of his sovereignty around him his Britannic Majesty King George the sixth and his queen leave the abbot to ride from mile after mile through berating London streets [Music] once again across Parliament Square with the Royal Dukes riding behind along your bridge Street and down Victoria Embankment where the boats on the river are decked out as grandstand and the Scarlet coats of the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police sent 40,000 London schoolchildren into a frenzy [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] up Northumberland Avenue [Applause] [Applause] that conductor found a square and some high above the procession to watch their marching is a joy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] across Trafalgar Square and in Japan now and on through some of the most famous streets of the City of Westminster the Dominion alone your contingents the Royal Navy Queen Mary in the princesses [Applause] [Applause] the lifeguard [Applause] we mayor his coach around the corner hearts and James's Palace the Kings AIDS [Applause] 10,000 faces clean forward if you're not very tall as any one thing to do and finally more than an hour after the head of the procession the royal coach reaches Piccadilly Circus [Applause] London has changed since the last coronation 26 years ago but nowhere more than in Regent Street the face of Regent Street may have been lifted but it still remains one of the most famous shopping streets of the world but today that's all different shop windows instead of displaying flashing jewels and gorgeous gowns are as tightly packed with cheering coronation watchers as the jammed pavements [Music] [Applause] you [Music] and now at Oxford Street that vibrates to the of marching feet that litters to the sparkle of flashing swords that echoes to the voice of a hundred thousand throats the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police [Applause] [Music] the gods [Music] a colonial [Music] under ma block and into Hyde Park and the last the procession is heading for home the men from the Empire's army [Music] [Applause] and Zach from the Royal Apple [Music] a Canadian [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] you [Applause] through the park where every tree is a grandstand it's mile after mile of swinging men and prancing horses and amongst the glittering uniforms and waiting tombs not the smallest corner of the Empire is forgotten not one branch of each life is unrepresented here's the RAF man [Music] a last glimpse of mr. Stanley Baldwin for whom this Day marks the climax of a distinguished career a royal - the Duchess of Kent the band of the Royal Scots Grey's [Music] you [Music] and and bugles of the rifle brigade [Music] the colonial contingent [Music] [Applause] pipes and and the King's Own Scottish border [Music] [Applause] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] the Yemen of the God [Applause] the king's bard master and Waterman the king's indian escort [Applause] [Applause] ah [Music] [Applause] [Applause] the pipes and band of the heightened light infantry [Music] [Applause] [Music] territorial army Royal Navy [Applause] the Canadian [Applause] the Royal Dukes [Applause] [Applause] the God [Applause] the royal duchesses [Applause] Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret rose and as the royal code to purchase Hyde Park Corner we turn back the pages 35 years to the pomp and pageantry of the coronation of King Edward's or 7 then it was the same loyal enthusiasm the same gilded coat the same feeling of an empire at one with its sovereign [Applause] but memory is saved we are back again in 1937 for the final stage of the Royal cavalcade to the palace [Applause] out of the park across Hyde Park Corner and under the could regain the constitutional Hill [Applause] the band of the 16 5th Lancers [Music] the Royal Marine [Music] [Applause] meanwhile at buckingham palace where the cloud is thicker than anywhere the police are having trouble to keep the room clear [Applause] [Applause] and at last it's back to the palace which the king and queen left over five hours ago five hours of tribulation and homage five hours of Venetian expressing its loyalty and affection five hours of a far-flung Empire taking part in spirit five hours of the world spotlight focused on London five hours of millions cheering themselves hot [Applause] [Applause] and once again our royal families tend for the most famous balcony in the world for the final climax of this glorious coronation day [Applause] and working with the world's most powerful camera lens our cameraman gets these amazing close-ups of their Majesties on the balcony [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] later inside the palace their Majesties in the royal family pose especially for our camera in all the magnificence of their coronation robes and four-day is to follow the subject Ellis is the magnet that draws London's ablating night crowd and into the glare of the Fed Lance steps our king and queen nightly to receive our homage and we join with London with the Empire with the world in saying God save a king and queen long may they reign [Applause] you [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Archive of Recorded Church Music

Views: 635,155

Keywords: Recorded Music Archive, Cathedral Choir, Church Choir, Sacred Music, Choral Music, Westminster Abbey

Id: UcYG9CUXceU

Length: 51min 19sec (3079 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 05 2017