Hobsbawn, E. and Ranger, T. (1983) The Invention of Tradition, 20th printing (2012; first pub. 1983), Cambridge University Press ( ISBN 978-1-107-60467-4) Further information: Succession to the British throne and Abdication of Edward VIII A commemorative glass tumbler, produced for the coronation of King Edward VIII, planned for 12 May 1937.

London Declaration 1949 (PDF), Commonwealth Secretariat, archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2012 , retrieved 2 April 2013 See also: Cultural depictions of George VI Statue by William McMillan (1955) at Carlton House Terrace, WestminsterAccording to custom, crowned heads do not attend coronations of other kings and queens. Pope-Hennessy, James (1959), Queen Mary, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., p.584 Kushner, Howard I. (2011), "Retraining the King's left hand", The Lancet, 377 (9782): 1998–1999, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60854-4, PMID 21671515, S2CID 35750495 The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was known as "Bertie" to his family and close friends. His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, the heir apparent. Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree. His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert became king, taking the regnal name George VI. Willmott, H P (2010) The Last Century of Sea Power: From Washington to Tokyo, 1922–1945, Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0-253-35214-9 (pp. 24–25) The Coronation Committee had been delayed when it met for the first time on 24 June 1936: Ramsay MacDonald, the Lord President of the Council, met the Duke of Norfolk to discuss the proceedings; MacDonald would chair the Coronation Committee as a whole, and the Duke would chair the Executive Committee. While Edward VIII was away, cruising on the Nahlin with Wallis Simpson, his brother, Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI) sat in his place on the committees. [3] Edward VIII had initially been reluctant to have a coronation at all (asking the Archbishop of Canterbury whether it could be dispensed with), but conceded that a shorter service would be acceptable; his desire for a lower-key event led to the planned abandonment of the royal procession through London the following day, the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral and the dinner with London dignitaries. [5]

Mass Observation, a research programme aimed at curating a record of everyday life in Britain, had been launched in January 1937. Contributors across the country were invited to record the details of the day of the Coronation in a diary for the project, whether the events of the Coronation were part of this day for them or not. The same exercise was repeated every 12th May in following years, and again when Mass Observation was relaunched in 1981. It continues to be an annual initiative into the 2020s, open to anyone to contribute. [76] Commemorative rail services [ edit ] Following the review, in which the King and Queen on the royal yacht passed along seven lines of moored ships, there was a flypast by the Fleet Air Arm, however a planned second pass had to be abandoned because of the misty weather. [84] That night, the assembled ships were illuminated by their own searchlights; the spectacle was famously described on BBC Radio by commentator Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Woodrooffe, who had enjoyed too much naval hospitality and was very drunk. [85] Wrightson, Hay. "Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at the coronation with her six maids of honour, May 1937". National Portrait Gallery . Retrieved 13 August 2021. No one could find the Sword of State, so they improvised, borrowing the Lord Mayor’s pearl sword. Everything ran late, and by the time the Archbishop came to deliver his sermon, it was drowned out by the clatter of cutlery and tinkling of glasses as hungry peers fell to eating mid-service, according to Lloyd. See also: List of participants in the coronation processions of George VI Foreign representatives [ edit ]Major (George) Raymond Seymour (1923–2010), grandson of Lord Ismay, and later an assistant private secretary and equerry to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

List of Companions (PDF), Ordre de la Libération, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009 , retrieved 19 September 2009 Although 1937 saw an increase in the colonial contingents partaking in the procession and an official lunch in Westminster Hall was given to parliamentary representatives of Empire states for the first time, the service itself was barely altered to reflect the new status of the Dominions. [15] Guests [ edit ] King George VI and Queen Elizabeth coronation invitation The royal couple walked past the choir, in which sat the foreign representatives and delegates, before passing through the screen; after this, they sat or stood in their designated area and the King and Queen took their seats in the Chairs of State in front of the royal box. As the King and Queen and the procession proceeded, the choir sang I was glad with the traditional acclamations of Vivat Regina Elizabetha and Vivat Rex Georgius by the King's Scholars of Westminster School.S. A. de Smith (1949), "The London Declaration of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers, April 28, 1949", The Modern Law Review, 12 (3): 351–354, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2230.1949.tb00131.x, JSTOR 1090506 Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family: A Glorious Illustrated History, Dorling Kindersley, 2016, p.118, ISBN 9780241296653 Royal Burials in the Chapel since 1805, Dean & Canons of Windsor, archived from the original on 27 September 2011 , retrieved 15 February 2010

A guard of honour had formed at the vestibule and at the entrance, and the King and Queen arrived at 11:00. On their entry, they were greeted by the great officers of state, the archbishops, and the peers bearing the regalia. They then formed their procession, which was led by the King's chaplain and the Chapter at Westminster, who were followed by representatives of the Free Churches and the Church of Scotland. The procession involved all of the great officers of state, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the lord mayor of London, the officers of arms of England and Scotland, the standards of each dominion, the prime ministers of the UK and of each of the dominions, and the most senior and highest-ranking officials in the Royal Household. They were followed by twelve members of the Yeoman of the Guard and six of its officials. S. Bates, "King Edward VIII abdication: the newspaper that never was", The Guardian, 9 December 2011 a b " Supplement to the London Gazette, 10 November 1937 issue no. 34453, p. 7038" . Retrieved 26 May 2014.Beginning in 1909, Albert attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne, as a naval cadet. In 1911 he came bottom of the class in the final examination, but despite this he progressed to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. [12] When his grandfather Edward VII died in 1910, his father became King George V. Prince Edward became Prince of Wales, with Albert second in line to the throne. [13] The Count of Flanders, the King's third cousin once removed (representing his brother, the King of the Belgians)