page_title: Coronation of Elizabeth II
section_title: Coronation review of the fleet
hierarchical_section_title: Coronation of Elizabeth II / Coronation review of the fleet
caption_attribution_description: English: The Swedish cruiser HMS Göta Lejon during Coronation Review at Spithead, 1953. In the background, a Soviet cruiser of Sverdlov class.Svenska: Svenska kryssaren GÖTA LEJON under Coronation Review vid Spithead, Storbritannien juni 1953. Det är tänkbart att Stig H:son Ericson själv tagit denna bild, men detta har inte kunnat bekräftas.
context_page_description: The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey, London. Elizabeth II acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation was held more than one year later because of the tradition of allowing an appropriate length of time to pass after a monarch dies before holding such festivals. It also gave the planning committees adequate time to make preparations for the ceremony. During the service, Elizabeth took an oath, was anointed with holy oil, invested with robes and regalia, and crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon.
  Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth realms and a commemorative medal was issued. It was the first British coronation to be fully televised; television cameras had not been allowed inside the abbey during her father's coronation in 1937. Elizabeth's was the fourth and last British coronation of the 20th century. It was estimated to have cost £1.57 million.
context_section_description: On 15 June 1953, the Queen attended a fleet review at Spithead, off the coast at Portsmouth. There were more Commonwealth naval ships present than at the 1937 coronation review, though a third of them were frigates or smaller vessels. Major Royal Navy units included Britain's last battleship, HMS Vanguard, and four fleet and three light aircraft carriers. The Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy also each included a light carrier in their contingents (HMAS Sydney (R17) and HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21)). Using the frigate HMS Surprise as a royal yacht, the Queen and royal family started to review the lines of anchored ships at 3:30 p.m., finally anchoring at 5:10 p.m. This was followed by a fly-past of some 300 naval aircraft. After the Queen transferred to Vanguard for dinner, the day concluded with the Illumination of the fleet and a fireworks display.
caption: Warships from Sweden (right) and the Soviet Union at the fleet review
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