THE CORONATION PLANS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21938, 12 November 1936, Page 8

THE CORONATION PLANS

DECORATIONS IN THE ABBEY CHECK TO PROFITEERING ON SEATS (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, October 21. Painting and “cleaning up” London's grimy face for the Coronation has already begun. The Office of Works has decided upon a programme costing £75,000, and many local authorities have set up special committees to plan decorations. Renovations have also started in towns throughout the country. It is estimated that 30,000 men. usually unemployed during the winter, will be given work in painting and allied trades. Designs for the decoration of London streets are now being considered. The wife of a member of Parliament, Mrs Richard Aclund, v/on a “competition” for designs lor Bond street, and she will assist with the supervision of the work of erection.

Blue and Silver Abbey

Hangings and carpets to adorn Westminster Abbey (according to advance information) will be of blue and silver. Specimens have been hung on frames set up in the Abbey, so that officials might choose the most effective shades. The carpet from the western door through the choir •vyill be blue, with a formal pattern in silver. The badges and heraldic adornment which on previous occasions have been included in the pattern, will be omitted in the interests of economy. Blue and silver hangings will drape the front of the Royal box, and the upholstery of the Chair of State and the desk which stands before it, for the use of the King before he moves to the Coronation chair, will also be in blue and silver. The Chapel of St. Edward will be fitted as a retiring room for the King, and the chapel altar, to which the King returns the crown of St. Edward, will have a dossal (cloth at the back) of crimson and gold, while a golden pall will hang over St. Edward’s shrine. In this retiring room the King changes the robes in which he has been crowned, and is invested in the purple robe of State, in which he will return to the palace. It is proposed to erect the annexe at the west end of the Abbey in the Gothic style, and to place statues representing previous Edwards in its niches. Seating Arrangements The suggestion was made recently that, to check gross profiteering in Coronation seats, the Office of Works should provide as many seats as possible in stands to be erected along sections of the route, nearly two-thirds of which is controlled by the office. An unconfirmed report declared that this suggestion will be adopted. If this is so, it is possible that there will be 200,000 to 250,000 seats available, as compared with 70,000 at the time of the jubilee. Full plans require the approval of the Coronation Committee. The Coronation route, along which the King will drive to and from Westminster Abbey, is 6i miles long. If the Office of Works erect seats, it is estimated that 1,250,000 people will see the procession at first hand. The suggestion that the office should provide seating accommodation has had the effect of checking speculators, who have been buying seats at 10 per cent, down, and trying to resell at a profit. There are signs that this speculation is abating, but it seems likely that as the genuine demand from the Dominions, the Colonies, the United States, and residents in England is so great the lowest price at which people may expect to get a privately let seat anywhere is probably £5 ss. There will be only comparatively few at this figure. In favoured positions, such as the neighbourhod of Westminster Abbey, £SO or even £IOO is .being demanded for a single seat. Preparations for celebrating the Coronation have begun already. Special illuminations, fireworks displays, and hotel festivities are among the features proposed for Brighton. Brighton was one of the first towns recommended by the Travel Association to the overflow of visitors who are still endeavouring to book accommodation in or near London. The corporation proposes to spend £7OOO on street decorations and illuminations. Commemorative China Demand for Coronation commemorative china has led to a boom in the potteries and in the claypits and china stone quarries of the West Country, caused by King Edward’s wish that all Coronation china shall be of British design and manufacture. Potteries in Staffordshire have already received orders for more than 10,000,000 souvenir mugs. For these alone clay pits and quarries in Devon. Cornwall, and Dorset will have to find 25,000 tons of raw materials. The output of the three counties has been steadily increasing since the revival of the industry in 1933. For the nine months ending last month more than 620,000 tons of china clay, china stone, and ball clay were delivered from Cornwall and Devon—about 165,000 tons more than in the same period in 1933. It is the highest output since the slump. The Staffordshire potteries, already taxed with the number of orders, are handicapped by shortage of skilled labour.