Dear LPG, 

I have just found out when King Charles III will be crowned, and it got my brain cells ticking over.   I wanted to write something for LPG to put out on the big day to commemorate and make its mark on your pages …

All the people who are younger than 70 will have only ever seen that first televised coronation in retrospect and know of others because of fairy tales or films, but now that I come to think of it, I have seen a lot more films where a queen has been crowned than a king. Still, perhaps they stick in my mind because of the pageantry and beautiful dresses.  

I missed the last coronation by months, although today's happenings are likely to bring it back to the memories of those who were old enough to witness it on the day. I was told about it so many times during my childhood. I remember being told that the weather was not the best on the day, and the Queen of Tonga's open carriage created one story that no precise planning could control.

That was the first-ever televised coronation, and it will be remembered by many because there were so few televisions around then. However, the Coronation planned for today will be watched by many regardless of whether they are royalists.     

We have no idea about precisely what will happen on the day. Still, the one thing we can be sure of is that it will involve one of those costly and heavy hats that most of us have only ever seen the likes of in the tower of London if we have ever visited. I have taken a look, and I am betting that even HD TV will not do that aspect of the justice of the proceeding. 

Unlike his mother's big day, there will not be streets of neighbours huddled in the living room around the small television screen belonging to the one person in the street who owned a black and white one back then. We will get the full HD version this time, and I do not doubt that many will have ensured sufficient food and drink to be consumed with the visual spectacle.   I know that at my house, the Saturday shopping trip will have to wait… 

GL, Bromley 

GL offers some facts about the last Coronation… 

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