While most of us were glued to our television sets for the crowning of King Charles III, some of the Cooks were more directly involved in Coronation activity. What’s Cooking caught up with three of our number who were more intimately involved…
Coronation ‘Service’ at the Abbey!
By Paul Galpin, Second Master and Honorary Steward at Westminster Abbey
By its very nature, the funeral of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II needed to be arranged at very short notice – albeit in accordance with an oft reviewed and updated plan. The planning time was much longer for the Coronation and, it being the first such event in so many generations, speculation was rife. Former choristers from 1953 were much in demand for their views, while the protocol department, the FCO and the Lord Chamberlain’s Office kept their own council. What was clear, however, was that security would be very tight and that all eventually selected for duty would need accreditation and an official photo-ID for access – there was even talk of differently coloured lanyards for rehearsals and the day itself.
At first it was not entirely clear how many Stewards would be required for duty nor, indeed, how those selected for duty might be chosen. Eventually, someone decided that drawing lots would be most equitable and so, a couple of weeks before the event, lots drawn, we learnt which of us had been chosen. Of course, having made it onto the list gave us no special insider knowledge, nor any sight of the Abbey interior prior to our arrival on the day – although the briefing two days prior set expectations quite high.
As for the funeral, we were all required to be at the Abbey very early. As we assembled, it was a bright and clear day, although rain was expected later. There was a long queue for security to access the Abbey precincts and, once again, a second security point and full body scan to get back to the Abbey from the locker room.
As we caught our first sight of the interior, the sun was shining brightly and dressed for the coronation, Westminster Abbey was dazzling! It was filled with colour, the radiance of vibrant hues, where light passing through stained glass splashed on the floor, the glitter of freshly gilded surfaces, and the bright gold of the carpet laid in the ‘theatre’, where much of the ceremony would take place.
The crossing and ‘Lanterns’ were now a raised platform extending the length of both Transepts, with ramps leading up from the Quire and down into the Quire aisles, carpeted in the richest blue to set off the gold of the theatre itself.
While 2023 attendance was never going to be as high as the last Coronation in 1953, the guest list was still significantly larger than for any recent event hosted at Westminster Abbey and required a considerable degree of ingenuity to accommodate safely. Almost every area of the church with a level floor had its share of seating, and TV monitors to ensure a good view of proceedings.
Moreover, the majority of those attending – observers, as it were, rather than participants – would all need to have been seated for a several hours before His Majesty’s was scheduled to arrive. So the big conundrum was ‘how to ensure guest comfort and keep them occupied (and, ideally, in their seats) for several hours?’
The answer, as it turned out, was relatively straightforward; a substantial first aid facility, up-market ‘porta-loos’, and a concert. A wonderful, eclectic selection of music performed, and in some cases specially composed, by some of the brightest musical talents of our age; though it had clearly also been a major challenge to fit all the performers into the available space – stacking them up in the organ loft, and other surrounding nooks and crannies!
The result was sublime and, perhaps surprisingly, much more impressive live than on the carefully ‘balanced’ TV audio recording – undoubtedly a result of the beneficial impact of acoustic anomalies in a building intended to glorify God through music.
I was assigned to the North Transept and, with many the guests arriving through the Great North Door, my responsibilities were a mixture of traffic control, seating and answering questions – mostly practical or about the morning’s events, but some completely random. As the Abbey began to fill, I saw so many familiar faces – some easy to place and others just familiar. Seated in my block were Stephen Fry, Dames Maggie Smith and Judy Dench, former US Secretary of State and Climate Envoy John Kerry, and the Chiefs of the Defence Staff, including the First Sea Lord – who was our principal guest at the Armed Services Dinner just a few weeks before.
Following the general arrivals, it was time for all the ‘named’ guests to start to take their places – former prime ministers, foreign heads of state, faith leaders, foreign royalty, and the families of the King and Queen. These arrivals were interspersed with a series of processions representing the various chivalric orders, those with a role in the ceremony and, eventually, once all were seated, the choir, the clergy, the Crown Jewels, the Dean and Archbishops then, last of all the King and Queen. At this point, we Stewards retired into the background.
What happened next is somewhat of a mystery, pieces of which were only revealed later with the benefit of recorded TV coverage watched over the holiday weekend. To be honest, though, the same was probably the case for the congregation, most of whom would only have seen the proceedings courtesy of the TV monitors. Sadly, though able to hear everything with perfect clarity, I was not so well positioned. Nevertheless, I found the whole ceremony as highly charged emotionally as the Late Queen’s funeral.
Shortly before their Majesties were due to process back towards the Great West Door, we Stewards emerged from our various ‘out-of-the-way’ niches and recesses to resume our places ready to manage the ‘exits’. Until then, right up until the National Anthem, I had thought I was holding myself together better than I had at the funeral. But, as the fanfare died away and I started to sing, the still strangely unfamiliar words “God save our gracious King”, my throat filled and my eyes started to fill; inexplicably, when I watched the proceedings later, on TV, the same thing happened.
Given the size of the congregation and the magnitude of the event, and the time it had taken to get everyone seated, the Abbey emptied swiftly, though perhaps that was simply relative to the length of time that we had already been on duty – approaching seven hours at that point. Then it was time for a well-earned lunch, most generously provided by the Dean, and at long last a chance to sit down and reflect on the day.
Just before leaving the Abbey, however, and once all the visitors had left, there was a brief opportunity for a team photograph and, even a chance to take a couple of pictures of our own – though both the Abbey’s head of security and the Yeoman Warders from the Tower were clearly very anxious about our proximity to the Crown Jewels.
Our Service to the King Begins: 6 May 2023
By James Stopford, Clerk and member of His Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms
As you would expect, the Coronation had been planned in detail and we knew our roles months ahead. We had hoped His Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms would play a similar part to that experienced by our forebears in 1953. Then the whole Body Guard escorted Her Majesty down the aisle at Westminster Abbey – an impressive sight. Sadly 2023 was to be quite different.
This time, eight Gentlemen were to be on duty in Westminster Abbey, four escorting His Majesty down the aisle and the others standing guard in the Transept. The remaining 19 Gentlemen were to be part of the Procession escorting the newly Crowned Monarch from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace – a huge privilege and honour as well as a very long march in boots designed for standing still.
First though, there were nine days of intense rehearsal.
We began at Aldershot with the rest of the Household Division, the largest gathering of the Foot Guards since Sir Winston Churchill’s Funeral. On the Sunday we repeated the procession along with all the Armed Forces and Commonwealth contingents on parade, nearly 8,000 of us. RAF Odiham was turned into Whitehall and The Mall – a long march but, due to RAF regulations, in comfortable shoes complete with soft soles! But these rehearsals did not prepare us for the overnight dress rehearsal on Wednesday 3rd May 2023. We formed up at 10.00PM on the 2nd and moved into position at 2.00AM on the 3rd. We then set off at a pace which Usain Bolt would have been proud to have maintained over 3 miles, it was relentless, and our feet suffered horrifically as a result. We finished at 5.00AM, blistered and exhausted, but all managed to be on duty at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party for 2.30PM that day. The next three days were spent applying Surgical Spirt (ouch) to the poor feet and investing heavily in Compeed plasters!
On 6 May, we assembled at 7AM in St James’s Park, donned our 18th century Cavalry Uniforms, grabbed our Axes, and boarded the buses to Wellington Barracks ready for the off at midday to Westminster Abbey.
There was a short wait before leading the Gold Coach along the Procession Route to Buckingham Palace. The streets were packed!
The procession ended with the Armed Forces forming up in Buckingham Palace Gardens facing the rear terrace, ready for the King and Queen to appear, prior to the Balcony event. The Body Guards were formed up facing the Armed Forces at the base of the terrace – the last line of defence, the historical role of the Body Guard – to protect the sovereign from everyone, but it did mean we couldn’t see the King and Queen when they appeared for a rapturous three Cheers from us all.
I now realise and confess I did not see the Monarch once on the day – a case of so near and yet…
But, what a day – not as we expected but so lucky to be part of something so unique, so British, and the envy of the world – and I would say that as I serve The King.
