It was the proudest day of her life. Queen Victoria would never forgot the
cheering crowds, the magnificent Abbey, and the spiritual significance of her
Coronation.
Queen Victoria had been Queen of her great nation for only a
year but she was still only a teenager when she was crowned on 28 June, 1938.
The excited young woman found it difficult to sleep the night before and
woke up at 4:00 a.m. when she heard the guns.
She went back to bed but she got up again very early and looked out at
the park, which was filled with people, soldiers and bands. She probably felt
nervous but she woke up feeling ‘young, strong and healthy’.
The crowds were thrilled to see the procession of colourful
carriages and splendidly dressed foreign signatories. Huge shouts went up as the twelve carriages
of Her Majesty and her attendants, each drawn by six beautiful bays, drove
past. 400,000 visitors came to London to
see the great day. Multitudes of people
thronged every available space – streets, windows and balconies. They were all
pleased to have a new young Queen after the rather eccentric Kings who preceded
her.
The Queen entered the Abbey dressed in an exquisite white
satin gown and bare-headed. Her eight train-bearers
wore dresses of white satin and silver tissue with wreaths of silver corn ears
and pink rosebuds on their hair. When
she entered she paused for a moment and clapped her hands but she was seen to
momentarily falter before she walked along the nave. Imagine what she must have felt as she looked
at the splendour of the beautifully-decorated Abbey and the richly-dressed Peers
and Peeresses who had come to watch her!
The young Queen apparently handled the day with wonderful
grace and dignity. She seemed to
watchers as if she floated down the aisle on a ‘cloud of white and silver’. Unfortunately, there had been no rehearsal
and the poor Queen even had to ask John Thynne, the Sub-Dean, ‘what she had to
do’ at one stage. Her coronation ring
had to be forced onto her fourth finger by the Archbishop of Canterbury and she
had to dip it in ice to remove it.
God really did show his blessing of the ceremony, however.
As the young Queen knelt to receive the heavy Crown a ray of sunlight fell on
her. The crowning was described by Lord
Melbourne as a ‘most beautiful and impressive moment’.
Many also remembered the Queen’s kindness to the aged Lord
Rolle afterwards. The 82 year old fell
as he paid homage, but he was not hurt.
Queen Victoria walked to the end of the steps to prevent another fall.
Lord Melbourne told the Queen that she had ‘done it
beautifully’ when they discussed it later.
In spite of the lack of rehearsal and minor problems, the young woman
handled the momentous day well. Perhaps
she was pleased that it was over but it must have been an anti-climax as
well. What did she think as she stayed
up till midnight watching the fireworks in Green Park?
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