"The Coronation" (2018) - BBC One Documentary on Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation

[Dman]

"The Coronation" (2018) - BBC One Documentary on Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation

The Coronation: BBC One Documentary- Airs Sunday, 14th of January at 8PM-

"On June 2nd 1953, on one of the coldest June days of the century, after 16 months of planning, Her Majesty the Queen set out to be crowned at Westminster Abbey, watched by millions of people throughout the world. A ceremony dating back more than 1000 years was to mark the dawn of a new Elizabethan age. Now, in what has become the longest reign of any British monarch, the Queen shares her memories of that day as well as the coronation of her father, King George VI, in 1937.

Exploring the role and symbolic meaning of the Crown Jewels in the centuries-old coronation ceremony, The Coronation shows these objects of astonishing beauty in new high-resolution footage. A combination of HD cameras and special 4K lenses reveal the incredible secrets and forensic details of a set of regalia that have a rich history of their own. Amongst the many glorious objects revealed, the film tells the extraordinary story of St Edward's Crown, which was destroyed after the English Civil War and remade for the coronation of Charles II in 1661. It has only been worn by Her Majesty once, at the moment she was crowned.

Shedding an entirely new perspective on this world-famous event, The Coronation brings together, the eyewitness accounts of those who participated, including the maid of honour who nearly fainted in the Abbey and the 12-year-old choirboy who was left to sing solo when his overwhelmed colleagues lost their voices.

Viewing rarely seen private and official film footage of the day, Her Majesty the Queen recalls the day when the weight of both St Edward's Crown and the hopes and expectations of a nation recovering from war were on her shoulders, as the nation looked to their 27-year-old Queen to lead them to a new era.

Using the Queen's recollections and new footage of the Crown Jewels, The Coronation reveals the story of this glittering ceremony."

BBC One - The Coronation

Airs Here in the United States on the Smithsonian Channel: Sunday, 14th 8PM-
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/the-coronation/0/3455604?an=featured

 

[Elly C]

Really looking forward to this having viewed the trailer. To hear the Queen talking about the coronation jewels will be something special - love the end of this trailer when she shows her genuine delight at the sight of the Black Prince ruby.

 

[Dman]

Really looking forward to this having viewed the trailer. To hear the Queen talking about the coronation jewels will be something special - love the end of this trailer when she shows her genuine delight at the sight of the Black Prince ruby.

I think it’s many people’s dream to hear and watch The Queen talk about her Coronation and the Crown Jewels. I hope someone put this documentary on YouTube. I don’t have BritBox.

 

[Jacknch]

Here is another excerpt from the programme - the Queen discusses the weight of the crown!

Coronation memories: Queen's advice on wearing a crown - BBC News

 

[Mbruno]

Interesting documentary !

I expect Prince Charles, if and when it is his turn, to have a traditional coronation like his mother's, but I am not entirely sure that the practice will survive past his reign, i.e. when William or George ascend the throne.

I believe there are still certain acts of Parliament in force that require that the monarch take certain oaths "at his/her coronation", which suggests to me that, by implication at least, a coronation is still legally mandated, but it doesn't seem to me that it would be particularly difficult to change the law to provide instead for a secular inauguration ceremony before a joint session of Parliament, as it is done in the Netherlands for example.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Really looking forward to The Coronation: BBC One Documentary on Sunday night,the released clips are very interesting.

 

[Dman]

Audio Interview:
Sasha Twining talks to Alastair Bruce on his documentary, The Coronation-
BBC Radio Solent - Sasha Twining, Alastair Bruce on The Queen Coronation documentary, BRCA gene research and juicing with Des Burke, Alastair Bruce on talking with The Queen

 

[Elly C]

I like the way they are stressing that this isn't an interview with the Queen as she doesn't give interviews, but the clips suggest it's certainly a conversation which revolves around questions and answers !

 

[Tsaritsa]

Really looking forward to this having viewed the trailer. To hear the Queen talking about the coronation jewels will be something special - love the end of this trailer when she shows her genuine delight at the sight of the Black Prince ruby.

............Which is, nonetheless, a red spinel, but no less spectacularly beautiful for being so.

 

[royal rob]

Does anyone if this will be on Aussie tv ?? I see it was partly funded by The ABC so hoping we see it

 

[AdmirerUS]

On the Smithsonian channel in the US.

 

[PetticoatLane]

Interesting documentary !

I expect Prince Charles, if and when it is his turn, to have a traditional coronation like his mother's, but I am not entirely sure that the practice will survive past his reign, i.e. when William or George ascend the throne.

I believe there are still certain acts of Parliament in force that require that the monarch take certain oaths "at his/her coronation", which suggests to me that, by implication at least, a coronation is still legally mandated, but it doesn't seem to me that it would be particularly difficult to change the law to provide instead for a secular inauguration ceremony before a joint session of Parliament, as it is done in the Netherlands for example.

I both doubt that the coronation will go the way of some sort of nonsense 'inauguration' and very much hope it doesn't.

Those inaugurations like in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands might work there but the UK is a completely different kettle of fish. 1,000 years of British royal history shouldn't be cast aside because some European royals do things in a different way.

I see the role of the peers being hugely scaled back and I would have no issue with that, but the coronation will remain.

 

[Osipi]

I think as long as the monarch remains the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, there will always be a coronation and an anointing of the monarch with the consecrated oil.

What is interesting about the sacred oil is that it is made according to the directions that were given to Moses.

From Wikipedia:

In Exodus, 30:23, God directed Moses to make a holy anointing oil composed of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, Kaneh-bosem, cassia, and olive oil. “And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.”

 

[Rudolph]

Also the Coronation anthem Zadok the Priest is based on 1 Kings

“Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet anointed Solomon King”

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

A long article from Robert Hardman (really worth a read):
ROBERT HARDMAN: Queen's the best argument for monarchy | Daily Mail Online

This is very much a conversation rather than an interview. The Queen has never given an interview, mindful of Walter Bagehot’s old dictum about not letting in ‘daylight upon magic’.

Throughout her reign, she has sought to make the Monarchy as modern as it needs to be without jeopardising the dignity and mystique of a position she has occupied longer than anyone.

In her tenth decade, she remains very much in charge. Though she may now delegate some of the more onerous tasks to the Prince of Wales, following the Duke of Edinburgh’s retirement from public duties, she remains at the top of her game.

That will be perfectly clear a few months hence when representatives of the Commonwealth descend on London for the largest gathering of heads of government in British history.

The Monarchy is as secure and popular today as it was on that day in 1953. This programme shows a chatty, sometimes impish Queen who seems entirely relaxed and happy with life.

Back in 1953, Churchill was Prime Minister and almost everyone went to church on Sunday. The idea of a man on the Moon was as remote as the idea of tieless members of the Royal Family openly discussing their inner feelings — or, indeed, a Monarch on TV talking about her diamonds.

But the Queen has always understood that Monarchy represents continuity and that continuity is maintained only by judiciously and gradually moving with the times.

This is why the institution she leads, like some of those jewels, has endured for a thousand years.

Articles from the Telegraph:
The story of the Queen's crown is more gripping than any Netflix drama

The Crown. Something we all know about: regal institution; glittery gem-encrusted headpiece; Netflix drama. But the funny thing is we don’t really. The object we recognise (evoked in the opening credits of the series) is the Imperial State Crown - all brilliant-cut diamonds and stonking sapphires - which the Queen wears for the State Opening of Parliament. But this is just a stand-in. The crown with which she was invested by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1953 is another object altogether and one most people would struggle to sketch.

Even the Queen herself, reunited with the crown in a new BBC documentary to be shown this month, eyes it unfamiliarly, unsure - like the Archbishop at her father’s coronation - which way round it goes. The Coronation Crown, or St Edward’s Crown, as it is properly called, is used only for the act of coronation. So for the past 65 years it has gone unworn, locked up safely in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

Its story is as fascinating as any Bafta winner. The puritans who defeated Charles I in the civil war had gleefully disposed of the original medieval regalia: selling gems to the highest bidder and dropping the gold frames into the melting points of the mint to be recast as coins. Charles II found the jewel house empty.

'It took 3,000 hours': the story behind The Queen's magnificent coronation gown

Even if the women of the royal family are more closely scrutinised than almost any others in the world, many of us can usually sympathise in some way with their sartorial dilemmas- what to wear to a wedding or for a formal dinner etc. But the conundrum faced by the Queen on 2nd June 1953 was unique.

In a new documentary about the coronation, the Queen discusses her memories of the day for the first time, telling Alastair Bruce about the precariousness of the crown jewels and how her robes were so heavy that they became stuck on the carpet as she glided through the abbey.

But while that anecdote might suggest an awkward, centuries-old outfit, the Queen’s coronation gown and robe were created for her by Norman Hartnell, the couturier who had been designing for the royal family since the 1930s and who had made her wedding dress five years before.

Videos from YouTube:

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I’m looking forward into watching this documentary. It was so nice to see HM in the snippets - and nice to see her talking rather casually about the coronation too.

 

[Dman]

The Coronation secrets and wild stories:
Queen reveals secrets about her Coronation in documentary | Daily Mail Online

 

[An Ard Ri]

Ahead of tonights Coronation Documentary on BBC1.

The secrets behind the royal crown jewels!

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

More articles from the Telegraph:
Secrets of the oil used to anoint the Queen at her Coronation

It was a moment considered so sacred that television cameras were turned away out of respect, as the young Queen was anointed before God under a Westminster Abbey canopy.

Tonight, for the first time, that mysterious process will be revealed to the general public, as the Dean of Westminster allows the sight of the the anointing oil and its ornate bottle to be broadcast.

The bottle is usually hidden carefully in Westminster Abbey, and with the moment of anointing deliberately cut from the Queen’s 1953 Coronation.

For the first time in history, the bottle will be permitted to be filmed for a BBC documentary about the Coronation, in a programme starring the Queen sharing her own memories of the day.

The Queen, in conversation with expert Alastair Bruce, will speak candidly about what happened behind-the-scenes at both her own Coronation and that of her father, George VI.

She will discuss how he asked her to write down her own memories of the day, which she watched as an 11-year-old in 1937, proclaiming the task “very valuable”.

13 crowns and a cursed diamond: 12 things to know about the Crown Jewels

1. There are a staggering 23,578 precious and semi-precious gemstones across the 140 Crown Jewels, which comprise the largest set of regalia in the world.
Most of the present collection dates from Charles II - earlier items were sold or dismantled during the dissolution of the monarchy in 1649. Only four pieces remain from before the English Civil War: three 17th-century swords and a 12th-century spoon.

Some historians also believe that a proportion of early Crown Jewels were lost when King John’s baggage train was caught in incoming tides at the Wash in East Anglia in 1216.

2. The Crown Jewels are officially priceless.
They are part of the Royal Collection and are owned by Queen Elizabeth II in the right of the Crown. They pass from one monarch to the next, a practice that dates back to a 17th century ruling, although records indicate that a permanent set of coronation regalia has been in use since Edward the Confessor was made a saint in the 12th century.

 

[Marty91charmed]

Could somene tell me which programme I have to download on my pc in order to watch the doc? I remmeber having downloaded a temporary programme to watch the bbc for the people who live outside the uk once but I cannot remember the name right now.

 

[carlota]

i'd love to watch it also. does anyone know where it may be found online?

 

[royal rob]

In Australia Sunday feb 4th abc 19.40

 

[Dman]

Could somene tell me which programme I have to download on my pc in order to watch the doc? I remmeber having downloaded a temporary programme to watch the bbc for the people who live outside the uk once but I cannot remember the name right now.

Although it’s too late, I hear BritBox is best to sign up for. I haven’t done it yet. Although, I hope someone uploads it to YouTube.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Fascinating documentary and what a revelation by the Dean of Westminster as to where the anointing oil is kept!

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Review from the Telegraph:
The Coronation: when the Queen's smile outshone the Crown Jewels - review

By any standards, The Coronation (BBC One) was special. We know the draw the Queen has on television. More people tuned into her broadcast on Christmas Day than any other programme. But to the see the Queen informal, relaxed and smiling, recalling the extraordinary day in 1953 when she was enthroned – and touching, for the first time since, the St Edward’s crown that was placed upon her head 65 years ago – felt like a window into an interior life rarely seen.

“Is it still as heavy?” she asked, her face a delighted blend of curiosity and memory as she reached out to prod and hold the gem-encrusted diadem. “Yes, it is. It weighs a ton!”

Yet, even against that dazzling background, it was the Queen who stood out: sharing her delight, her memories, gazing rapt at many images of her Coronation for the first time. Towards the end, some home-movie footage revealed a relieved monarch arriving back at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony, giggling when one of her maids of honour stumbled over her train. It was an intensely human, private moment that spoke volumes about the kindliness and character of the woman who had just been crowned Queen of England.

For all the facts and glittering treasures, what lingers longest from The Coronation was that smile.

 

[wyevale]

what lingers longest from The Coronation was that smile.

That, and her extremely dry sense of humour..

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I watched the documentary when it aired and it was so lovely to see HM talking and I feel like we all got a more personal view of her. One could really sense her character when watching the programme, and I liked that other guests/participants at the coronation were invited to contribute, too. Loved to see HM's reaction at the jewels in the crown in particular!

 

[Dman]

The Queen talking about the Crown Jewels-
People praise Queen's hilarious reaction on documentary | Daily Mail Online

 

[Katrianna]

Unfortunately I have Cox Communications and the Smithsonian channel is by paid subscription and not part of my plan, of course. If I wanted it I would have to buy into a "tier" of channels of which there would only be the one I want.
On the Smithsonian web site, they do have videos of the programs that have aired so I hope The Coronation will be available at some time. I noticed that the channel also has a YouTube connect which it appears that is free to subscribe to, I'll have to look into that. I'm disappointed I couldn't see it, I was hoping the doc. would have been on PBS.

 

[Elly C]

The Coronation: BBC One Documentary 2018

I watched with a mixture of delight at HM's down to earth remarks and poignancy that this is likely to be the last opportunity we will have to
witness the Queen commenting and interacting in this way. There were some priceless moments -my favourite is when the interviewer asked the gloved keeper of the Crown Jewels, if the St Edward's crown could be brought closer on the table next to the Queen, she promptly picked it up and moved it herself! There were several similar moments to savour. Yes it was lovely to see all the regalia up close and learn about the symbolic importance of each part of the coronation, but the revelations of the character and personality of the Queen is what I think this programme will be remembered for best.