The Queen Elizabeth Coronation Souvenir book captures all the pomp and pageantry of this historic event on 2 June 1953.

This book, which once belonged to my mother, contains many photographs (in colour and black and white) of the Coronation and the British Royal Family since Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne on 6 February 1952.

Crowds stood in the cold and the rain along the Coronation route to catch a glimpse of the young Queen, and loudly cheered as she passed by in the Golden State Coach.

Crown Prince Olav (later King Olav V) and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway were included in a Royal Family group photo.

The newly-crowned Queen appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony to acknowledge the vast packed crowds and to watch the RAF flypast.

Gigantic fireworks display lit up the night sky on the South Bank, including a set piece with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their two children.

Queen Elizabeth also hosted the first big party of her reign at Buckingham Palace in December 1952 when she entertained Commonwealth Prime Ministers: Mr Sidney Holland (New Zealand), Sir Winston Churchill, Mr Robert Menzies (Australia) and Mr Louis St Laurent (Canada).

The Queen Is Crowned

Neil Ferrier wrote the Introduction, The Queen is Crowned, which gives a detailed account of the events during that momentous day, including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, paying homage.

Crowds also cheered as Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga waved as she passed by in her carriage with the Sultan Ibrahim of Kelatan (a state of Malaysia) near Hyde Park.

Other photos include those of Queen Elizabeth, as a young mother, pictured with her children at Balmoral to mark Prince Charles’ fourth birthday on 14 November 1952.

LTA Robinson in London published the book in 1953.

The Queen’s Coronation Day Speech Broadcast

The transcript of Her Majesty’s Coronation Speech is also included.

When I spoke to you last, at Christmas, I asked you all, whatever your reltion, to pray for me on the day of my Coronation—to pray that God would give me the wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that I should then be making.

Throughout this memorable day I have been uplifted and sustained by the knowledge that your thoughts and prayers were with me.

I have been aware all the time that my peoples, spread far and wide throughout every continent and ocean in the world, were united to support me in the task to which I have now been dedicated with such solemnity.

Many thousands of you came to London from all parts of the Commonwealth and Empire to join in the ceremony, but I have been conscious too of the millions of others who have shared in it by means of wireless or television in their homes.

All of you, near or far, have been united in one purpose.

It is hard for me to find words in which to tell you of the strength which this knowledge has given me.

The ceremonies you have seen today are ancient and some of their origins are veiled in the mists of the past. But their spirit and their meaning shine through the ages—never, perhaps, more brightly than now. I have in sincerity pleged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and will all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.

In this resolve I have my husband to support me. He shares al my ideals and all my affection to you. Then, although my experience is so short and my task so new, I have in my parents and grandparents an example which I can follow with certainty and with confidence.

There is also this. I have behind me not only the splendid traditions and the annals of more than a thousand years but the living strength and majesty of the Commonwealth and Empire: of societies old and new, of lands and races different in history and origins, but all, by God’s will, united in spirit and in aim.

Therefore I am sure that this, my Coronation, is not the symbol of a power and a splendour that are gone but a declaration of our hopes for the future, and for the years I may, by God’s grace and mercy, be given to reign and serve you as your Queen.

I have been speaking of the vast regions and varied people to whom I owe my duty, but there has also sprung from our island home a theme of social and political thought which constitutes our message to the world and through the changing generations has found acceptance both within and far beyond my realms.

Parliamentary institutions, with their free speech and respect for the rights of minorities, and the inspiration of a broad tolerance in thought and its expression—all this we conceive to be a precious part of our way of life and outlook.

During recent centuries, this message has been sustained and invigorated by the immense contribution, in language, literature and action, of the nations of our Commonwealth overseas.

It gives expression, as I pray it always will, to living principles as sacred to the Crown and Monarchy as to its many parliaments and peoples.

I ask you now to cherish them, and practice them too: then we can go forward together in peace, seeking justice and freedom for all men.

As this day draws to its close, I know that my abiding memory of it will be not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection.

I thank you all from a full heart. God bless you all.

Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June1953