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Compared to his daughter’s astonishing reign, King George VI passed away in 1952 after just 16 years of service to his country due to poor health. This propelled Elizabeth to succeed to the throne on February 6 1952 at just 25 years old with two young children; Prince Charles aged three and Princess Anne just one-and-a-half years old.
The Queen’s coronation was held a year later, on June 2, 1953, and she was the 39th sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey.
With over 8,000 guests at the event, Prince Charles was in fact the only child to be in attendance.
At the time, Princess Anne at just two years old was considered too young to attend the coronation, but Prince Charles aged four was able to attend.
He was the first child to witness his mother’s coronation as sovereign.
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The Prince received an invitation for the event fit for an heir apparent.
He received a hand-painted children’s invite designed specifically for Charles.
It is adorned with British guards in their traditional red uniform and bearskin hats playing instruments alongside a lion and a unicorn with the royal standard hanging above them.
The invitation reads: “By Command of The Queen the Earl Marshal is directed to invite His Royal Highness Prince Charles to the Coronation on Tuesday June 2nd 1953.”
Famously, the young prince found the coronation rather unexciting.
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He was pictured between his grandmother, the Queen Mother, and his aunt Princess Margaret resting his head on his fist looking rather like all children at a dull adult event.
A documentary called ‘The Coronation’ was released in 2018 and it revealed that the Queen’s father King George VI had a plan for Elizabeth to not be as shocked by her coronation as he was when he suddenly acceded to the throne.
To embed the memory of his coronation in her mind, King George got Elizbeth aged 11 to write a review of his coronation ceremony.
The title page to the review written in red pencil reads: “To Mummy and Papa, In Memory of Their Coronation. From Lilibet, by Herself.”
It seems young Elizabeth felt very similar to Charles as her review noted how she and her Grannie would look ahead in the service book to see how much longer the event would go on for.
The Prince of Wales, now 73 years old, is the oldest and longest heir apparent in British history.
In 2021 he took on a number of royal duties from his late-father Prince Philip and is planning to take on more to aid the Queen and to prepare for when he becomes King.
In four days’ time on February 6, the Queen will celebrate her platinum jubilee.
To celebrate such a historic milestone, many events will take place throughout the year and culminate in a four-day bank holiday in June.
With an ever-growing diary for her jubilee year, the Queen is not showing any signs of slowing down.
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