NOT INVITED to the CORONATION! (But this Earl of Sandwich doesn’t mind)

[Music] welcome back everybody to a new episode of American VI Countess at home and as I promised before from time to time I will be having guests appear and today my guest is my father-in-law John Montague the 11th Earl of Sandwich really exciting to have him here because we are going to be discussing coronations it is really coronation fever right now we haven't had a coronation since Queen Elizabeth II coronation in 1953 and I want to talk to you a little bit about that because my father-in-law it's fair to say that you were there well we were getting very wet I'll I'll tell you how the day began though because the news came through of the of the conquest of Everest of Hillary and tensing and this was absolutely amazing news and a really good omen for the coronation and I remember Sunshine at that point in the day but what happened was that um the rain came down after that and people had been living on the pavement for more than a night and a half I should think some of them for two nights queuing but planting their position yes and we were very lucky to have a parliamentary access through a state a ramp um with seats on it so my sister Kate and my mother I'm not sure who else was there um all sat in the rain watching all these terrible so newspapers driven Away by well there were people coming in you know the horses started coming and we had to clean they had to clean up the mess before the coach arrived yes yes no of course so it's a rather confusing picture for you but how old at that time that's 1950 I was 10 years old 10 years old yes June the second so your father then of course at that time and your mother they weren't yet the Earl and Countess of Sandwich they were VI count and by Countess hinching Brook and I have the invites you know they received the invite in uh Vicon and by Countess hinching Brook to attend the coronation of uh Queen Elizabeth II tell me just a little bit about the excitement of the day because you know Queen Elizabeth you know she was the longest reigning monarch she's loved by so many people around the world and you were there on that day when when she was pronounced you know officially Queen what was the energy around that day what can you remember so of course I can remember the moments um of the Her Majesty going past in you know literally seconds but I can also remember the troops and all the different regiments that came out that was the most impressive to a 10 year old uh I acquired a whole life well not life-size model in cardboard of the procession and I kept putting that up in my bedroom I think for a couple of years afterwards um so I really was very conscious of what was happening and involved from a distance yes yes no I mean it's absolutely wonderful and did your mother was with you it sounds like on that day is that right I don't know who else would have been there but if mum had a seat in the coronation which is quite possible then there must have been a nanny there I just cannot remember that right right no well I mean you were you were 10. I had about a brand new box camera and I've taken the worst pictures ever taken I think any by anybody I was completely unaware of how to do photography so subscribe to me to me wake up that morning more excitement you were watching it from where where were you watching the coronation and it was a stand put up at the Victoria Tower end which is now the House of Lords and and that is where the junction was with our the street where we actually lived so it was very very close to Westminster itself right so you have so you did have a place special especially for you it was next to Parliament next to Parliament yeah and you were able to watch the procession okay we were given that um as a right a family had four tickets or whatever it was right right fantastic and you do remember the queen coming by in the carriage oh yes yes yes and what do you remember what you saw from her in the carriage was she waving well I can't tell you that detail I just remember the glimpse of seeing right but the the horses left manure all the way down the street so the most exciting thing for 10 year olds was to seeing the way that they had to scrub up all the manure um before something else came along it's terribly funny now something I didn't know and what you mentioned earlier was that it was raining there so it's it and was it raining throughout the entire procession well as I say when we woke up in the morning I distinctly remember flashes of sunlight so it must have been either overnight but it was definitely raining during the day as well during the day yes because it took a long time waiting for this whole thing of course to come for to begin with and then waiting for it to go past and after that you couldn't get down straight away right so but you so you stayed at your spot um you know while the queen was inside uh um all the ceremonial um aspects around that and then when she exited were you still there I I think they went straight to the mail after that I don't think we probably saw the the return but I've I've not done any Research into the roots right right if I was her I would want to get straight to Buckingham Palace from from The Abbey not come past um no it's just wonderful just to hear your memories and you know something I didn't know that you were actually there in 1953 until recently and that's why I wanted to have this conversation one question that I know many people will be asking is uh the coronation of King Charles III Were you invited because of course in 1953 all of the peers were invited to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II but things are different this year so have you were you invited so I think the monarchy has scaled down a bit I'm pleased to say from the 1953 experience and King Charles is very aware of through his Charities of the involvement of many different people in the idea of monarchy I mean that is principally the public but I think non-governmental organizations which I've worked with and I understand the whole feeling they do like to be recognized themselves and they will be present in large numbers yeah there's no doubt about that um as whether I personally mind I I have the right apparently to stand and watch I don't think I'm going to do that because the television is so brilliant nowadays um but you you didn't get an official invite to so no what happened was there was a ballot for each party leads group in the House of Lords and so many drew the ballot so I mean I assumed that I wasn't drawn right right right yes no but as you said this is a new monarchy uh things are evolving they're different and and rightfully so um I think it is right and uh after all the houses of Parliament are any one manifestation one institution there's so many others that should be recognized on an occasion like this it is once in a lifetime of course of course of course having sort of taken all the archives out of the amusement room redecorated renovated the movement room and put all the archives back when I was putting them back I found this where did you find it so we're gonna go back a little bit in time but I found this as I was putting things back on their shelves and I opened it up and it is the form and Order of the service for the coronation of their majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the 12th of May 1937. so I'm doing my masters and I have this huge interest in your grandmother Alberta the American Countess of sandwich and she would have been at this with George because at that time she became the Countess of sandwich in 1916. so did uh George became the Earl of Sandwich so they would have gone to this ceremony absolutely to the coronation and what's and this would have been their program it's beautifully done isn't it isn't it it's so well printed but it's also in such good condition yes yes it is and I just love all the contents it has the entrance into the church the anointing the investiture the putting on of the crown uh then you have the uh Queens coronation um it's just absolutely beautiful isn't it I can hear the zadok the priest um from from the last coronation brings in my ears and I think they probably had it then as well they did look it and as Solomon was anointed king by zadok the priest yeah you did say they were singing that too the handle well it may not say it there it may not it may not say it there but but um in 53 yeah so it's just wonderful for me to have found this I'm finding so many uh so many wonderful having sort of been sitting on a shelf for a while undiscovered treats if you like in in that archive wonderful musicians here so you can get the music I think yeah yes Henry Purcell Russell Gibbons voice yes lovely lovely so but what's wonderful for me of course to have found this is knowing that Alberta and George would have attended this coronation in 1937 and George your grandfather would have then of course been wearing the the robes and the cornet and he also was a personal or they were personal Friends of the Archbishop of that time who took the service right um how they met I don't know but uh he used to go and stay at hinchinburg Cosmo Lang right right well he's mentioned in here as well so uh so yes there you go and I'm sure I'll I'll uncover letters between George and Alberta and certainly the cosmo the arch business at the moment yes yes the Archbishop of Canterbury so let me ask you that do we still have the robes and the Cornet by chance but it's it's it is said so but we haven't yet tested it because after the move from here uh we put everything into slightly different places I mean I thought they were in the cupboard upstairs no because that's where the dresses are still aren't they yes yes all the Elder dresses yes I believe some of those dresses that will be another episode I believe a couple of those are Alberta's dresses well I don't think we can do that now no but you think that they I might discover them I might have a little I mean I'm very good at at solving Mysteries recently and and finding things so I might have a little snoop around it's a matter of which test because I mean got a lot of chests around it just needs a lot of hours exactly well I'll I'll have a uh Snoop around and see what I can find and if I do find something I will let you know by the way I haven't told you my story of meeting the queen only the only time I have met her majesty what well her her private secretary you see was Martin chartres who was one of the family extension of our family anyway um and we were invited to Saint James's Palace for some event I've forgotten what it was and I was introduced to the queen having just come back from a trans Saharan or some African Expedition all I can remember was she said nothing and was about a foot shorter than I was and I just kept talking and talking and talking getting hotter and hotter and hotter and then eventually it all came to an end I left who we left part in so that's my story of meeting the queen I think that's the one that is a wonderful story but you you were able to see the queen quite a bit in your time in Parliament because she would always open so you would you'd be sat in well we only went to the opening once in fact because you know you then had to find a robe we I I had to borrow a laptop right right and the coronation road is a different thing from an ornamental robe in the House of Lords okay um so we did we didn't go to the regular ones but of course I've seen yes the queen on and off from this well listen what I'll do is I will go have uh just a snoop around and see if I can find those coronation robes and the Cornet so stay tuned to everybody this video is not ending yet but I do just want to say thank you very much for sharing not only your memories of 1953 with me but with everybody here watching because I think these are important to get a record of and and you know for us who weren't around uh during that time to be able to hear your stories and and what it was what it was like well let's have a have a hunt and see what we've done all right we're off on a Bear Hunt everybody [Music] well that was some hunt we literally went around the house and searched through chests closets looking for the coronation robe and the cornets and finally and I mean this was after a lot of searching we found them we were so excited when we opened up the chest and there they were ah wow when I found these I just thought I can't even believe that I'm looking at these Exquisite uh cornets and the robe itself so the robe is made of beautiful velvet and silk and then stitched on the inside is the name Earl of Sandwich then of course there are the cornets and I'm just going to start with what the Earl would have worn so this you can tell is an Earls cornet it has eight silver balls and eight strawberry leaves and the silver balls are on top of stems and these balls are referred to actually as pearls even though they're not and this is what the Earl uh would have worn in the Earl of Sandwich in 1953 but really what surprised me I did not know this was that the Countess also was wearing a Coronet as well and again eight silver balls and eight strawberry leaves but yet when on the head you would see forward-facing you would be able to see five of the balls and four of the strawberry leaves now we also know speaking to my father-in-law and of course from the invitations that were received to VI count and by Countess hinching Brook in 1937 and in 1953 that they probably uh attended as well but their coronets for Viscount and VI countesses they're different they're actually 16 silver balls uh all touching each other and not perched onto a stem and there aren't any strawberry leaves so had I uh been invited to the coronation of King Charles III that is what this Phi Countess would have been wearing on her head so really wonderful for me to find these family heirlooms uh I think I might give them a little bit of a Polish definitely showcase them somewhere here in the house but exciting to reveal all of this to you and yeah it's been such a fun day finding these and I hope you've enjoyed this episode uh do comment down below be sure to subscribe like turn notifications on because we have so much going on here on the American VI Countess channel from the American VI Countess at home playlist also to our historic houses episodes as well as the Alberta research project YouTube lives do check it out all details down below bye everybody [Music]

Channel: American Viscountess

Views: 148,409

Keywords: julie montagu mapperton house, julie montagu american aristocrat, mapperton house, aristocracy documentary, meghan markle, prince harry, american aristocrat, American viscountess, julie montagu, mapperton, viscountess, viscount, Luke montagu, prince and princess of wales, the royal family, all things royal, royalty, real royalty, bridgerton, the crown, royally obsessed, Italian house renovation, restoration, King Charles III

Id: VSCI6w8RYfY

Length: 19min 20sec (1160 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2023