HOW LONDONERS SPENT THE CORONATION DAY

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27065, 13 June 1953, Page 6

HOW LONDONERS SPENT THE CORONATION DAY

LONDON LETTER

[By K. W. McCOOK, London Correspondent of “The Press"! ,

London, June s.—“ London can take it” was the proud slogan adopted by the citizens of the capital hail of bombs and rockets of the German air attack during the war. ims week millions of Londoners and visitors “took it” again as they braved the cruel, cold, showery weather to honour their Queen. But the resolute multitude which jammed the streets of the Royal route 24 hours before the Queen left Buckingham Palace for her drive to Westminster Abbey were not “enduring the weather stoically,” as a sour report in the Communist daily newspaper made out. They were waiting happily and in high excitement for their Queen. “The weather? Well, that is always with us. But the Coronation is the of a lifetime.” That was the carefree attitude of the crowds. The unfailing good humour of British people under miserable conditions was never better illustrated than on Coronation Eve. It had drizzled and blown cold all the day and the temperature had dropped to half the figure recorded in the previous week’s heat wave. But as I walked round part of the procession route that night and spoke to dozens of people camping .out in damp puddles on the windy streets, I did not hear one word of self pity about the rain and cold. “It’s a shame the Queen having to drive in the rain and the uniforms and flags getting wet. But we don’t care. It don’t make no difference to us,” one old lady from Whitechapel told me. It was a typical reply that dozens of people repeated to me as I sympathised with them in their long, cold wait. The pioneers were a friendly crowd. Neighbours standing or lying on a sodden undercover of newspapers and rugs watched each other’s places and respected strips of paper that announced that someone would be back in five minutes. Armed with groundsheets, sleeping bags, raincoats and plastic covers, the frontline enthusiasts refused to be disheartened by the drizzle as they kept their vigil. There were parties of young persons singing, elderly folk having a “cup o’ char” from their flasks and youngsters trying to sleep under parents’ umbrellas and coats. Police-

men, press photographers, ambulance men—anyone passing by—became the object on their good-natured banter. The rain had dampened their bodies, but not their spirits; and although they might be haggard and tired when the Queen eventually passed them, their tumultuous cheers and waving would never show the long hours of exposure they had happily endured. By the time the Coronation proces-

sion passed late on Tuesday afternoon, many in the crowd had spent 30 hours out in the open. Soaked and tired though they were, only the elderly and the young went back to their beds. After a meal and a few drinks, hundreds of thousands jammed down on to the Victoria Embankment to see some 10 tons' of fireworks worth £ 12,500 soaring over their city. London became a fairy city blazing with light and brilliant buildings and searchlights ringing the Thames. From the Palace all down*»the Mall the crowds went wild with excitement; and the mass of revellers laughing and singing in Trafalgar square and Piccadilly Circus made Coronation Day the biggest and gayest party London has ever had. “Blimey, VE night was nothing like this,” a sweating constable in Trafalgar square said to me. It was a happy ending to a happy wet day. Wonderful Behaviour Scotland Yard officers are still talking about the wonderful way in which the huge crowds in London behaved on June 1 and June 2. “Many of our men spent nearly 18 hours on continuous duty and none reported any serious incidents,” said one officer. “Everyone accepted the police directions cheerfully. It was definitely the best behaved multitude in memory.” Detectives r fears that thieves would make Coronation Day a “red-letter” day were also groundless. No complaints were received about pickpockets, and only one large burglary was reported in the London area. Jewellery worth nearly £30,000 was stolen from a wall safe in the home of the Duke of Sutherland in Knightsbridge on Coronation Eve. The Duke and Duchess’s coronets, which were ready for the Abbey ceremony, were left untouched. It was the second large loss that the Duke has suffered. Thieves got away with jewels worth £50,000 in a raid on one of his houses in Guildford in 1950. Rain Insurance To the hundreds of thousands of people who waited patiently in the drizzle and drenching showers on Tuesday for the Royal procession to pass it seemed as if several inches of rain fell in London on Coronation Day. Records taken at the Air Ministry at Kingsway, however, show that the fall for the whole day was only about one-eighth of an inch: but it was sufficient to cover those business people who had insured against rain

for loss of profits. The insurance com. panies pay out if one-tenth of » inch of rain falls within the iosutS period; but not many big paymerj. will be made. The cost of insitrin. estimated takings of £lOOO for fhl hours is £9O to £lOO, while to insur. against one-tenth of an inch of ram for the whole day costs £175. ™ Beer for Blood Servicemen who have been receiv ing free beer for giving blood at sev' eral camps in Yorkshire will rsm .J a cup of tea instead of a half X of ale to revive* themselves after operation. The Yorkshire Band Hope received a complaint Som , Royal Air Force national servjcenim that he had been given a chit to obtain a half pint of beer at the wet ca< teen after giving blood. Swift action by the temperance or. ganisation followed. The Minister of Health has now advised that there “no therapeutic value in beer as on. posed to any other beverage,” and the practice of issuing beer chits to donors will stop. Whether the change from free beer to free tea will bring about a new rush of servicemen wifi; ing to give their blood is doubtful according to the offending hospitol authorities. The Licensed Victuallers’ Defence League has protested that the ban discriminates against beer drinkers and has asked the Minister to reconsider his ban. Two Famous Flags

Though tens of thousands of Union Jacks and other flags of all shapes and sizes have been flying in Britain during the last fortnight, the most famous two flags flown this week will never be seen by anyone again. They are a small Union Jack and a flag bearing the title “British Everest 1953 Expefiition,” that Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing planted on the summit of Everest. No special photographs of the two flags were taken in London before the expedition left for India. “They were just two ordinary small flags in wool bunting,” the manager of the factory in Holloway, North London, where the flags were made, told me today. "There was nothing special about them. We did not make any staffs f® them. I suppose the expedition had a couple of sticks to plant them in the snow.” Crown Pieces Popular The most popular and most profitable of the thousands of different Coronation souvenirs being sold in Britain this month is the crown piece issued by the Royal Mint Four millione were struck by the Mint and ordert have been so heavy that another million will be minted. The crowns are not milled, but are engraved on the edge with the words "Faith and truth I will bear unto you." The reverse shows an impression of the Queen mounted on the police horse Winston, while the obverse is engraved with a crown with four shields showing the lions of England, the lion of Scotland and the harp. Although the crowns are legal tender, the Treasury runs little risk of the coins going into circulation, since nearly all are being put away by buyers as treasured Coronation souvenirs. The crowns are sold in plastic containers through banks for 6s fid. A Triumph for Television The British Broadcasting Corporation has been attacked bitterly at times by listeners, viewers and critics for its programmes, but it can never have received so many congratulations as it did this week. Coronation Day was television's finest day. The wonderful pictures of the Coronation service were shown with dignity and restraint and the superb organisation and technical brilliance of the programme received unanimous praise from all critics. The five cameras in the Abbey, in long, medium and short focus, showed millions of viewers more of the service and the processions in the Abbey than guests in the most favoured seats could see. The cameramen in the Abbey took their greatest chance just as the Archbishop of Canterbury was crowning the Queen. As his arms descended over her head, the cameras flashed to a shot of the Queen Mother with her hand on the shoulder of Prince Charles, who was smiling happily. It was a superb intimate moment in a brilliant programme. Von Luckner Returns

At the age of 72, Count Felix von Luckner has come out of retirement in Germany to tell his compatriots how he foxed the British in the First World War. With pictures of his Sea Eagle, he has been describing his raids on British shipping to enthusiastic audiences, according to newspaper reports. The canny Count, however, is not revealing all his adventures in the South Atlantic and the Pacific to his admiring countrymen. He makes no mention of his internment, escape, and recapture in the islands. His lecture is mainly devoted to tales of how he fooled the British.