QUEEN'S 50-YEAR RULE

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[WilliamDaily] QUEEN'S 50-YEAR RULE

QUEEN'S 50-YEAR RULE

As bells peeled and trumpets sounded, the Queen and Prince Philip arrived at Westminster Abbey for a service to mark the 50th anniversary of her Coronation.

Wearing a lemon outfit with matching hat and white gloves she was greeted by the dean of the Abbey.

Moments earlier, her children and grandchildren took their seats for the service near the altar.

Over 1,500 people are crowded outside the Abbey waving Union Jack flags and hoping for a glimpse of the royal family.

The Queen is re-tracing her steps 50 years to the day after she was crowned Queen in the historic Abbey - scene of coronations for 900 years.

Among the dignitaries attending the service are Lady Margaret Thatcher with her husband Dennis, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Sir Edmund Hillary.

Camilla Parker-Bowles, who was personally invited by the Queen in the gradual process to officially recognise her as Prince Charles' companion, arrived with her 86-year-old father.

She is wearing a wide-brimmed cream hat decorated with delicate black and white feathers and wearing an oatmeal-coloured outfit.

Around 1,000 members of the public have been invited to rub shoulders with royalty and other VIPs at the service.

These include 34 "Coronation babies" born on June 2, 1953 celebrating their 50th birthdays.

The seats available to the public were over-subscribed five-fold and priority has been given to people with particular links to 1953.

Around 240 participants in the 1953 Coronation ceremony are attending.




Camilla Parker-Bowles






Prince William, who celebrates his 21st birthday later this month, joins the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other family members at the celebrations.

But Prince Harry is unable to make it because he is sitting his A-level exams at Eton.

Although the Queen acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father, George VI, she was not crowned until 16 months later.

The 50th anniversary Coronation celebrations will be on a much smaller scale than last year's Golden Jubilee, marking the Queen's 50-year reign.

The televised Abbey service is a non-ceremonial occasion and the Queen, with Prince Philip, is driving from Buckingham Palace to Westminster in a royal limousine, rather than a coach and horses.

The service will be followed by a tea party for 500 underprivileged children in the garden of Buckingham Palace and then a dinner hosted by Prince Charles at Clarence House.



Last Updated: 12:04 UK, Monday June 02, 2003