The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-05-13
GEORGE VI AND ELIZABETH CROWNED
Five Million Voices Cry God Save the Kng Guns Boom
Clad Tdings From Historic Tower of London.

the King!"
AS the great guns of the Tow
er of London doomed forth the
news that the Archbishop Of
Canterbury had placed the
weighty Crown of St. Edward,
the Crown of England, upon the
head of George vi, the cry came
forth in a mighty swell from
five million threats as from the
throat of one man.
This was the climax of the great
est show on earth, show for which
a generous share of the throng
which lined the six and one-half
! miles of the professional route had
waited without moving from their
places through the dampness of a
London spring night and, indeed,
through part of the preceding day.
Those of the Kings subjects who
had not been able to afford So to
$3.50 for a seat that would assure
them a glimpse of their new mon
arch on his proudest day began
marking off space along the curb on
the afternoon of May II. Smart
alexis who thought they could put
off their vigil until sunrise of Cor
onation Day were doomed to stretch
their necks an inch or two in twelve
hours of straining to see over sew
eral rows of earlier arrivals.
ga Quiet Empire"
It was a heavy day of work at
the end of many back-breaking
weeks of preparation for the 5000
gentlemen and ladies of the peer
age whose rank and purse entitled
them to sit for an entire day in 10
to Is pounds of clothing per capita,
on hard seat 10 inches wide with
out ever moving. But it was a mag
nifcent show.
"The Lord give you fruitful lands
and healthful seasons" said the
archbishop in the benediction which
followed the GROWING of the King,
victorious fleets and armies, and a
quiet Empire.
No one in Britain could deny that
in time of worldwide unrest, a
time of urgent necessity for i'm
perial strength and unity, the politi-
cal expediency of ga quiet En-
pire" prompted the government to
make of this the most splendid cor
onation in all history. The gov
eminent expense in the GROWING of
George vi has been estimated to
be double that in the coronation of
his father 28 years ago; it's backing
of the dazzling pageantry required
expenditures of $2,620,000 of pub
lie funds, not counting an estimat-
ed 100000 spent by the royal house
hold in entertaining royal and for
eign guests.
In the vast coronation pageant
the government hoped to lend new
emphasis to that sentiment which
is the real bond holding the empire
together, and which is symbolized
by the crown and the man who
wears it. There is still an under
current of dissatisfaction over the
abdication of Edward VIII. The new
King and Queen must be popular
lied to the fullest possible extent.
The coronation was an opportunity
to accomplish this, and the govern
ment could afford to let none of it
slip past.
The show and the crowd lived up
60 all advance billing. It was es-
timated that there were 300, 1000 Wis
itors who had to cross the ocean.
All London's $4,000 hotel rooms
were sold out. Souvenir manufac-
turers and vendors did the expected
land office business. The drink bill
for toasting the new King was
guessed at $10,000,000
Queen Goes First.
Pomp and regal solemnity were
byword of the day from the time
the King and Queen boarded the
coronation coach at Buckingham
Palace in mid-morning. Eight mag
nificent cream-colored horses drew
the ancient four-ton vehicle down
the streets it has traversed since
1851, when it was built for Queen
Anne. In its heavily ornate gold
and jewels it carried the spectators
back through the pages of history
to those days before the American
colonies had revolted and prevented
the British Empire from including
the lions share of North America.
The ancient coach, a tradition at
coronations, bore the royal couple
down the mall to the Abbey, where
the Queens procession left the King
to enter first, so that she could
stand and wait for him by the chairs
of state, or recognition chairs, in
front of the royal box where the
other members of the royal family
were seated.
Peers and peereSSes were in their
places before the central figures of
the coronation drama arrived. And
before them the real martyrs had
assumed their positions. These were
the eight newspaper photographers
the government had permitted to be
present.
Abhoring the thought of flash
bulbs marring the solemnity of such
an occasion, but still anxious that
pictures be taken, officials hit upon
solution. They provided camou-
tagged quarters for camera men in
false pillars and other positions
which blended into the background
of the Abbey. Narrow Sits in the
walls of these refugees enabled the
cameras to peer out at the spectacle
RIIf fhn SS,>Lof1~ot,, 10