The Queen was crowned in St Edward's Chair, made in 1300 for Edward I and used at every Coronation since that time. It is permanently kept in Westminster Abbey. The incumbent Earl Marshal is responsible for organising the Coronation. Since 1386 the position has been undertaken by The Duke of Norfolk. The 16th Duke of Norfolk was responsible for The Queen's Coronation in 1953 and he was also responsible for the State funeral of Sir Winston Churchill (1965) and the investiture of The Prince of Wales (1969).

Camilla’s dress featured bracelet-length sleeves with each cuff embroidered with the floral emblems of the four nations while tiny threaded motifs of the British countryside including daisies, forget-me-nots and celandine appeared on the body of the dress.The real unexpected star of the day was Penny Mordaunt. As the leader of the House of Commons, she was required to carry the 17th-Century Sword of State, showcasing some serious core control by holding it upright away from her body for the entire ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June, 1953 in Westminster Abbey. Her Majesty was the thirty-ninth Sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. Coronations have been held at Westminster Abbey for 900 years and The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was to follow suit. But the Coronation of 1953 was ground-breaking in it's own right – the first ever to be televised, it was watched by 27 million people in the UK alone and millions more audiences around the world. Here are 50 little known facts about that remarkable day on 2 June 1953: The St. Edward's Crown, made in 1661, was placed on the head of The Queen during the Coronation service. It weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces and is made of solid gold. The Queen's Lord Lieutenants commissioned artist Terence Cuneo to paint the Coronation ceremony and in 1954 Herbert James Gunn painted a State Portrait of The Queen in her Coronation outfit.

Hair and Jewellery Coronation Accessories

Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066. Before the Abbey was built, Coronations were carried out wherever was convenient, taking place in Bath, Oxford and Canterbury. On 24 June 1953, the Honours of Scotland (the crown, the sceptre and the sword) were carried before The Queen in a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral. Some people in the Abbey witnessed their fourth Coronation. Princess Marie Louise (Queen Victoria's granddaughter) had also seen the Coronations of King Edward VII (1902), King George V (1911) and King George VI (1937).

The Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the service, a duty which has been undertaken since the Conquest in 1066. For the first time in 1953, a representative of another Church, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, also took part. With floor-sweeping robes, swan-plumed hats, a Stone of Destiny and a costume change behind a pop-up screen, for onlookers it felt like a melting pot of Harry Potter, the Met Gala and an influencer at fashion week. Mordaunt’s substitution felt radical, especially compared with Camilla, who commissioned the British couturier Bruce Oldfield to design a gown made from silk woven in Suffolk. Oldfield has a history of designing for the royal family, working closely with Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1980s. The Ministry of Food granted 82 applications for people to roast oxen if they could prove that by tradition, an ox had been roasted at previous Coronations – a welcome concession at a time the meat ration was two shillings a week.What better way to make such a remarkable day even more memorable than with beautiful accessories? Perfect for your flat or street party, you and your child will be coronation-ready in no time with our selection. The first overseas tour The Queen undertook after the Coronation was to Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand starting in November 1953. HM returned in 1954 visiting Australia, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) Aden and Uganda – going home in Britannia from Aden via Malta and Gibraltar. The recipe for the Anointing Oil contains oils of orange, roses, cinnamon, musk and ambergris. Usually a batch is made to last a few Coronations, but in May 1941 a bomb hit the Deanery destroying the phial, so a new batch was made.

The principal decorations for the processional route were in The Mall where there were four twin-spanned arches of tubular steel that were illuminated at night. The arches were lifted into place by giant mobile cranes. Linking the arches down the route were the long lines of standards mounted with golden crowns and each hung with four scarlet banners bearing the Royal Monogram. The Queen succeeded to the Throne on the 6 February, 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI. She was in Kenya at the time and became the first Sovereign in over 200 years to accede while abroad. Instead of breaking from tradition and wearing wild flowers in her hair, Kate chose the middle ground approach. Her headpiece, made with silver bullion, crystal and silver thread-work, was fashioned in a wreath shape. The design was a collaboration between the British milliner Jess Collett and Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen who also designed Kate’s ivory dress, which sat beneath her blue silk mantle. The Coronation service fell into six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture (which includes the crowning), the enthronement and the homage.

Guests seemed keen to embrace Britain’s unofficial dress code for summer events – florals. Emma Thompson was pictured in a rose-printed red silk coat while Lady Louise, the eldest daughter of Prince Edward chose a pale blue iris-printed dress from the British brand Suzannah London.