SCENES IN ABBEY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19335, 27 May 1937, Page 10

SCENES IN ABBEY

CORONATION CEREMONY WINTERS' VIVID PICTURES "•THE LONELIEST MAN" LONDON, May 13. . Vivid pictures of yesterday's noble ceremony in the Abbey arc given by distinguished writers who watched the scene. '•The loveliest, moment o( the great day was the rhythmical advance of four silver duchesses with the Queen's golden ■Kill," writes Sir Hugh Walpole, the eminent novelist. Sir Hugh Walpole's description appears in the Daily Mail. lie says: "1 was in the ancient battlc'Tiented triforiuni and looked down on the King's Chair of State. We seemed Lo be alone in the Abbey, the chair and 1. '1 am timeless,' that chair said. "The Abbey was then a background waiting for the drama. Only the chair was alive. Then the background began

„ .ill. Members of the House of Comllonn, peers, peeresses, judges, diplo„.,ts fishops -all are there, rut the ..,,;.,!,.' „.mains empty, isolated, important, indifferent. ••| ittlo processions are continually arriving. The Queen Mother, it seems ~, „„., turns and looks into 1 rincess FJi/ahefh's eves, and says lo her: '1 vc riven uiv lib' I" l" is - ]l is and I is ufit easy. One day yon will lie asked.lo do as 1 have done. Do you. comig as yon are, realise?" The Queen Watches "Then, from the very walls of this ~„.;,.„l ,-hurcb steps slowly a ligure ay iouely and apart as the chair. His fare is stern, lie seems, at the moment, the loneliest mull in the world, lie seems to turn to the Archbishop for help guidance, and friendliness. The Queen, from her seal, watches, ami her heart and s.nd go out lo him. but it is not vet her business. If is the pari of the Xing ami the Church before Cod, and so. nl the altar, the King lakes the oath : 'I am willing.'

"Then, under a golden pall, he is stripped of almost everything, and, in a garment so slight as to suggest materia) surrender, he is anointed on the hand's breast, and head. "He is clothed again with a robe of cloth of gold. He is given the Orb, the Sceptre, and the Ring. Then, sitting in King Edward's chair, he seemed to have

i new dignity and confidence, as though, now that the'great business of dedication was over, he had stepped out into a new world.

"The Archbishop takes the Crown. Every jewel is brilliant in the Hood if light' from above, with a life beyond ;,!„, iif o of jewels. The silence is so intense that continents, uesert.s. and iiie undefeated peaks of Mount Everest are sharing in it. "The King slightly bonds his head He is crowned.

"The Queen has waited, watching and irayiug for him, and understanding hovi It is with him. Now she plays her part.

"The loveliest moment of this great lay was the. rhythmical advance of four silver duchesses with the golden Kill. She, too. is anointed and is given .he ring, the sceptre, and the ivory rod with Ihe dove, and in very truth take? her place beside the King. Informal Incidents "They move towards the altar foi Communion. A small, crimson-clad chou boy has nearly tumbled over the edg( if'the triforiuni. A member of Parlia ment is surreptitiously munching choco late below me. 1 can see a peeress yawn- ; ng. Two Arabs begin to gesticulate. TV ?reat Amen rises in ascending diminuendo like a lark's song. Trains are shaken out. Two peers collide.

"1 can see that the Queen's eyes are proudly shining. With all our hearts,

we shout to the rooftops: 'God Save the King.' •Queen Mary watched every phase of the great service with the tender solicitude of a mother for her son," writes Mr. Ward Price, in the Daily Mail. "Only once," he continues, "did her fortitude show signs of breaking. When Hie sat red moment of the anointing came to her son. she raised a handkerchief to her eyes, and for a little while her head wa's bowed. Tears were on her cheeks, and the sympathy of understanding of those who saw her went out to !ier then as. perhaps, memories of her nvn crowning came back through the years.

' It was a giorions ceremony, legendary in its beauty and inspiring in its solemnity. Some features of it can never be forgotten—the wonderful blending of medieval shouts of loyalty and the silver trumpets,-the gracious touch of youth irovided by child pages in their oldworld dress, the clear, strong ( tones 61 the Archbishop of Canterbury, and, above all, the simple, manly bearing of the King, and the sweet, womanly dignity of his Queen. "Hoth by the i-eligious ritual and in the hearts of the peoples of the Empire, our monarchy was thus consecrated anew."