The Coronation
 

Has anyone else seen the Smithsonian/BBC special on the Coronation of QEII?

I am watching it now. I have always been fascinated by the British monarchy.

Apparently this is the first time she has publicly spoken about the coronation. Quite interesting. This seems to be quite off the cuff. They brought out the Coronation Crown and the State Crown. The handlers were quite delicate with them but she was poking at them and handling them with little like I would take a knife out of the drawer. Seems the Crowns are quite stout. The main crown was made in the mid 1600's so it's been around.

Lots of history. I'd recommend it if you are interested in the topic.

I like the fact that she worked in the Land Rover factory in ww2.

I have always impressed that the Brit royals have served their country without privilege in times of war. The Queen was also an ambulance driver as I recall and a royal prince was killed in WW2 flying his aircraft in a raid.

I thought I remembered reading that she stayed in London during the Nazi bombings. The woman has some stones and as mentioned above, they seem to take service to their country very serious.

I have been to London several times. One of my favorite cities. Very few can pull off pomp and circumstance like the Brits. I was there one time and I went to watch the changing of the guards at the palace. Met a really hot Spanish girl who was there with her mom. Anyway, the guards were playing Beatles music during the ceremony. Sgt Peppers, Lucy in the Sky, and a few others. I thought it was a bit odd given the stiff upper lip Brits. A Bobby told me that the Queen was not in the palace and the guards were given latitude. It happen to be the B-day or anniversary of John Lennon's death (dont remember which one) so they were playing the songs to honor him. One of the most memorable guard changing I have seen. Very little can compare to a full military marching band playing Beatles music and having a good time doing it.

That does sound memorable!

When we were there a few years ago they were playing some Star Wars tracks if I remember correctly. One thing that raised my eyebrows at least was two of the guards who apparently missed the start of the march back to barracks. We were hanging out on the fountain right outside the gate and as the company/platoon or whatever it was marched by us two of their members ran up behind from the palace. I saw one nodding to the other (rather an amusing thing given the busby's they had on) and then they inserted themselves into the formation from each side as if nothing had happened.

- peter.