The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-06-02

skies when Elizabeth was present
ed to the congregation. inside the
abbey as "your uncorbted queen. I"
A. cloudburst sdrenched the JAM
packed capital at the moment of
GROWING. It rained steadily for 80
minutes, stopping only q few min
utes before the conservation service
ended. More than 1900 persons
were counted casualties in the
crash of crowds, with Is hurt seri-
ously enough to 30 to hospitals.
Prince Charles, who is four, was
brought to the abbey just before
the Archbishop of Canterbury
placed the jewel-encrusted crown
of st. Edward upon the head of
Britain's seventh queen, symbol.
cally consecrating her to God and
to the service Of more than a half
billion people in = quarter of the
earth.
Charles acted like any bright
l-year-oId. Sucking his thumb, he
gazed with awe upon the spectacle
centering about his blue-eyed young
mother. For him to see better, his
softly weeping grandmother, Queen
Mother Elizabeth, lifted him so his
chubby hands could grasp the ledge
Of the royal gallery.
The boy destined to be king saw
the crown placed on his mothers
head at 1888 p. nj. 1888 a. m,
EST. Eight minutes later he saw
her solemnly mount the gilded
throne before the alter, and he was
startled by the. swelling roar of
"God Save the Queen" echoing
through the ancient abbey in the
united voice Of |, 800 assembled dig
nitaries.
Elizabeth II Regina sat In solemn
splendor, the Seepters Of authority
In her hands. her head bowed be-
meath the weight Of the five-pound
crown, while outside trumpets,
bells and guns carried the tidings.
At the end Of the ceremony she
gave up st. Edwards crown and
took on the lighter Imperial Grown
for the procession.
The young queen went through
the stately ceremony with great
poise and only the faintest outward
trace Of nervousness. But when it
was over, she looked emotionally
fatigued--almost as If she might
burst into tears after the firing
ordeal. She had only a brief rest
before the afternoons procession.
In Paris, the man who stfll today
could have been England's king
watched the coronation Of his niece
on television. With the Duke Of
Windsor, briefly Edward VIII, was
the woman for whom he surren-
dered the crown. his wife, the for
mer Wallis Warfield simpson Of
Baltimore.
He never was crowned, and his
abdication in 1886 brought George
VI, to the throne. Elizabeth be.
came queen on her fathers death
last year.
Queen Mother Elizabeth must
have recalled today the browning
Of her husband, for she wept softly
through part Of the ceremony.
Nearby, the ordinarily vivacious
Princess Margaret, 2z-year-old sis
ter Of the queen, was pensive as
she watched the crown being
placed on the head Of the girl she
has always fOndly called Lilibet.
The ritual was . historic out.
pouring Of the richness Of tradition
which has made England great in
the past and sustained her in her
modern trials. Elizabeth was a pic
tire Of aueenliness. Just once. she
shook her head, ~ II TO test the fit
OF the crown. IL rested snuRlys Sc
cure, as II made for her.
Only nomentArily, fleetingiy,
shy smile fitted across her seri-
Gus young face. But the solemnity
Of the occasion wa swe-inspiring.
Watching her every move were the
representatives OF - nations, TIE
members Of % other royal fami-
lies.
Gen. George c. Marshall headed
the official United States deiega-
ton. and the Soviet union was rep
resented hy Ambassador Jacob
Malik.
TIE actual act Of browning. pre-
sided over By TIE archbishop, Or.
Geolfrey Fisher, cane II sha end
az an hcurlong ceremcny ia the
abbey. First Eiixahegh vas reeog-
Hi1ed as the s'undcuhtad qneen'
and toCk her cath on the Bihss. SIC
Econtlnued On Pare Twol