At the time, Le Parisien was called Le Parisien Libéré, in reference to the Liberation, at the end of the war (we became “Le Parisien” in 1986).
This cover, June 3, 1953, is still today one of the most beautiful in our newspaper: taking up the colors of the British flag, it announces the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the day before.
“Westminster 12:32 p.m.: God save the Queen,” reads above a black and white photo – the color photo will become more widespread later – showing the Queen, crown on her head.
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“The coronation of Elizabeth II yesterday (
June 2, 1953
) associated a 27-year-old sovereign with ten centuries of history,” we continued.
Without suspecting, for a single second, at that time, that 69 years later, at 96, this same queen would still be on the British throne.
It finally faded away,
this Thursday, in her Balmoral castle, where she had been placed under surveillance by her doctors a little earlier.
Elizabeth II had in fact taken the head of the United Kingdom a few months before her coronation, on the death of her father, George VI, on February 6, 1952. British tradition dictates that a more or less long period is left between the succession and the coronation, so as not to "erase" the deceased monarch with great festivities that we hope will be joyful.
A more or less similar time should be observed between the death of Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles.
An “exceptional event”
In its newspaper of June 3, 1953, Le Parisien then recounted the whole ceremony.
This, unlike her father's coronation ceremony in 1937, had been widely broadcast on television at the express request of the queen.
It was then the first major event to be broadcast internationally.
In France, it was the first time that viewers could watch an event happening on the other side of the Channel live – the Duke of Windsor, in Paris at the time, had even followed the ceremony via a TV, even told Le Parisien.
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Our newspaper had even organized the broadcast of the event in front of its premises with the installation of “two receivers”, which had attracted dozens of onlookers in front of the building.
“Tight against each other, held by the white barriers specially arranged for this purpose, the Parisians piously followed the spectacle, said one in the edition of June 3.
Neither the rain nor the hail, with which several showers punctuated the day, could resist the attraction of this exceptional event.
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One of the pages of Le Parisien from June 3, 1953.
"The drums are beating, the brass is ringing, the national anthem projects the standing crowd," wrote Le Parisien at the time, recounting the queen's exit from Buckingham Palace towards her coronation.
This is the moment everyone has been waiting for.
In the gilded splendor of her guard, her eight horses caparisoned with gold, her golden postilions and her fabulous golden carriage whose tritons seem to breathe the glory of England into their shells, the queen s 'advance.
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Later in its "special edition", Le Parisien recounts this time the enthronement of the monarch: "Capped with the crown, which weighs nearly five kilos, and carrying a scepter in each hand, the queen advances, restrained by the sides of her heavy chasuble which makes her look like an Iconic virgin.
Auxiliary bishops must lift the edges of the garment to allow the queen to place one foot after another in front of her with great care.
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“Women have always written exceptional chapters in the history of England,” also wrote Le Parisien.
Again, he was not mistaken.