June 2, 1953 is a historic date in the history of the British monarchy but also in that of French television.
Elizabeth II became the Queen of England, according to a ritual respected for 1200 years.
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The ceremony takes place in Westminster Abbey in the presence of 7,500 guests, but also under the eyes of millions of viewers.
This is indeed the first major event broadcast live in Eurovision.
The images are of course broadcast in France, with commentary by Jacques Sallebert, then London correspondent for what is still RTF.
Madelen invites you to rewatch the images of a ceremony that shook up the small screen market.
Read alsoElizabeth II: from cinema to rock'n'roll via literature, the star was her
In order not to miss this appointment with history, the French buy television sets at the rate of 5000 per day.
The number of workstations in homes thus increases, in just over a week, from 20,000 to 60,000. In addition, those who cannot afford one are rushing to the windows. specialized stores where they discover the black and white images on a series of posts placed by astute shopkeepers, anxious to attract the customer.
“She has an amazing authority for a child”
Winston Churchill referring to Princess Elizabeth as a child
The new sovereign became aware of the mission that awaited her on Thursday, December 10, 1936. She was only 10 years and 8 months old, but when she learned that George VI, her father, was going to succeed Edward VIII, she knew that she will one day ascend the throne.
From that day on, she was to learn her future "
trade
" with a strength and rigor that did not fail to impress Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister.
"
She has an amazing authority for a child
," he told those around him.
On February 6, 1952, his father died, struck down by a heart attack.
She left Kenya, where she was taking part in a photo safari, and returned to London.
At Buckingham Palace, where she will now live, she is asked the name she has chosen to reign.
The answer is immediate: “
mine, of course!
".
The day after the funeral, she assures her subjects that she is now at their service.
She announces her intention to continue the work of her father, and to modernize the country, taking care however to preserve ancestral traditions.
She then leads, behind the scenes, another fight.
On November 20, 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten.
Custom would have it that this union brings her into the house of Mountbatten.
She refuses.
She belongs to the Windsor family, and has sworn to respect the wish of George V who founded the House of Windsor, with the hope that she will reign over England forever.
She leads a diplomatico-administrative fight which she wins hands down.
On April 9, 1952, the future queen signed a decree indicating that she would keep her name and that it would be the same for her descendants.
Aware that she is going to reign over what is still an empire, the six months preceding her coronation are essentially devoted to a tour of the lands of Great Britain, in order to get to know her subjects.
The leaders of the whole world wonder then.
At a time when the woman must take care, in priority, of her husband and her children, what attitude will she adopt?
Play the potiches or remain faithful to the tradition of his ancestors by reigning without governing?
The answer does not take long.
Endowed with an iron health and a work force that allows her, between two ceremonies, to be at her office early in the morning and late at night, she takes care of everything.
After choosing the menus for the next meals, she immerses herself in the reports of the work of Parliament, which she reads in their smallest details.
It thus happens to her, to rebuff, in private, ministers whose work she considers insufficient.
She does not forget the education of her children, and, in particular, of Prince Charles.
She does not entrust him to a tutor, as usual, but enrolls him in primary school and picks him up every evening when he leaves.
It is essential that he comes out of his cocoon and discovers, through his little comrades, this people over which he will now reign.
The coronation of Elizabeth II, June 2, 1953 on the INA