One of my favorite memories from childhood is sitting on the living room floor with Jane, our neighbor from across the street, who had ferried airplanes to England during WWII, and watching the coronation of Elizabeth II. The coronation was filmed. While the ceremony was going on, a completed roll of film would be flown to Canada, being developed on the plane, to be rushed onto the air in North America. There would be a break in the action when that roll ended, while we waited for the next roll to come in.
Jane patiently pointed out landmarks in London as young Elizabeth travelled to Westminster Abbey, and then returned to Buckingham Palace as Her Majesty, the Queen. I was enthralled by the pomp and regalia, and spent hours with my Queen Elizabeth coloring book and paper dolls, and learned all about the orb and sceptre and crown. The image that still gives me chills is the official portrait of the newly crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey in her full regalia, with her robe draped gracefully around her.
Shortly thereafter, I got caught up in the ongoing drama of Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend. They wanted to marry. Margaret had to ask permission of her sister and sovereign. Elizabeth, as head of the church and Defender of the Faith, could not grant permission for her sister to marry a divorced man. Eventually Townsend married a Belgian woman who looked much like Margaret. Margaret married Anthony Armstrong-Jones, and ended up divorced herself.
Just for fun, let's digress for a moment and look at other royal marriages in 20th century Britain.
First off, there's May of Teck, who was related to the royal family through one of the numerous offspring of Queen Victoria. In 1891, May was betrothed to Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert, oldest son of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. However, Albert died shortly thereafter. Victoria still fancied May, who had a strong sense of duty, and May married Albert's younger brother George in 1893. In 1910, on the death of Edward VII, George and May became King George V and Queen Mary.
Queen Mary took her position and her duties seriously. She was aghast when her oldest son, David, who became Edward VIII on the death of his father in 1936, abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, the woman he loved. She never understood how he could turn his back on his duty.
As an aside, it's important to remember that Edward VIII gave up the throne BEFORE he was crowned and anointed.
She supported her son Albert, who became George VI, and took special interest in his daughters, the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. It's fair to say that Queen Mary's sense of duty left a strong mark on the monarchy throughout the 20th century.
So now we have Elizabeth on the throne, and doing her duty as head of the church by withholding permission for her sister to marry a divorced man. Queen Mary, who died shortly before her granddaughter's coronation, would have approved.
I was fascinated by the wedding of Princess Margaret to the Earl of Snowdon, and thought it was particularly touching that the young bridesmaids wore copies of Margaret's first formal gown. For the record, they married in Westminster Abbey, where William and Kate will wed. Queen Mary undoubtedly spun in her grave when Margaret was divorced.
Then Elizabeth's children came of age. Anne was the first to marry, and she, too, married in Westminster Abbey. I remember watching that wedding, and was moved by her deep curtsey to her mother at the end of the ceremony. Alas, that marriage also ended in divorce.
Meanwhile, Charles was taking his time about finding a wife. We all know how that ended, but in Part II I'll talk about how we got there.
