I think that this book sounds like a Mills and Boon publication. You can research books written around 1953 which might ring a bell.

I remember the hire of TVs to watch the Coronation live was popular then but that was still expensive. It was better to go to the cinema and see the newsreels in colour later.

I was born on the Coronation Day of George VI and got my name in the local newspaper reported incorrectly as an Elizabeth as the reporter heard it. I am actually Ann Elizabeth!

The nurses gave me a souvenir teaspoon which went missing in one of my many moves.

Sorry Rosefolly I can't help you on that one although there were a few books for children written around the time of the 1953 Coronation using the general theme of the Second Elizabethan Age. I remember my Mother, in about 1955, giving me a magazine The Young Elizabethan which included a selection of quality stories and articles by 'leading writers'. I was promised a subscription to it but was later told the mag had 'folded' . . . but I think it was more a case of my very economical Mother having decided that 2 bob a month was too much to pay! Apparently it was in print for many years.

The Young Elizabethan

There's a new historical fiction titled The Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson which I am eager to read since I really enjoyed The Gown, also written by her.

It is Coronation Year, 1953, and a new queen is about to be crowned. The people of London are in a mood to celebrate, none more so than the residents of the Blue Lion hotel.

• Edie Howard, owner and operator of the floundering Blue Lion, has found the miracle she needs: on Coronation Day, Queen Elizabeth in her gold coach will pass by the hotel’s front door, allowing Edie to charge a fortune for rooms and, barring disaster, save her beloved home from financial ruin. Edie’s luck might just be turning, all thanks to a young queen about her own age.
• Stella Donati, a young Italian photographer and Holocaust survivor, has come to live at the Blue Lion while she takes up a coveted position at Picture Weekly magazine. London in celebration mode feels like a different world to her. As she learns the ins and outs of her new profession, Stella discovers a purpose and direction that honor her past and bring hope for her future.
• James Geddes, a war hero and gifted artist, has struggled to make his mark in a world that disdains his Indian ancestry. At the Blue Lion, though, he is made to feel welcome and worthy. Yet even as his friendship with Edie deepens, he begins to suspect that something is badly amiss at his new home.

When anonymous threats focused on Coronation Day, the Blue Lion, and even the queen herself disrupt their mood of happy optimism, Edie and her friends must race to uncover the truth, save their home, and expose those who seek to erase the joy and promise of Coronation Year.

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Yoyobon, that does sound interesting! I will try it.

The book I read was not a Mills and Boon book, and it was also not a children's book. I probably read it in the 1970's in my early adulthood, though I cannot recall clearly. It was by someone like Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels, a writer known on her own merits.

Ah well, thanks to you all for the suggestions! It will come to me someday, or it will not.

i know this isn't what Rosefolly is looking for but Paul Gallico wrote Coronation about a family's experiences after travelling to London for the Queen's coronation in 1953.

And on that theme . . . I am old enough to remember the Big Day, that it rained and my younger brother and I were 'chosen' to represent out school at an open-air service held on the grass outside the theatre at Stratford-on-Avon where we grew up. For this we had to learn all the verses of the National Anthem.

Also that neighbours who we usually only exchanged a 'Good morning' with, all crowded round our 9 inch TV for the ceremony; even the milkman was there. Of course we kids got restless and were shooed out into the garden by my Father. We had a bottle of champagne for lunch!

All school children were given a mug by the Town Council. Mine must have got broken years ago.

Annpan you must have better memories than I do! Were you named Elizabeth after the then Queen? So many girls of my/our generation were called Elizabeth or Margaret . . . or without a Royal connection, Jennifer.

Vee. I probably was as a second name. My mother didn't want an "e" spelling to Ann but people often add it. She thought it sounded more modern that way. However I was often referred to as Annpan or Panpan or Old Ann as I was quite an old soul type of a child.

We had four Ann/es in my class of thirty at the grammar school but only one Elizabeth.

Vee, that is amazing that you have memories of Queen Elizabeth's coronation day. Wow!

Vee....what do people in the UK think about "Queen Camilla" ?

I assumed she'd be Queen Consort

Kathy, if you think Vee is old, I was in my Freshman year of college in 1953. In our second semester English 102 class, we had to do research papers, including making notes on those little 3x5" cards, and turn everything in. My roommate, taking the same course, was assigned QEII for her paper, and I got Mamie Eisenhower. DDE was president, and his life was divided into parts and assigned to different students. Roommate's paper was much more interesting than mine.

I really wasn't meaning to emphasize anyone's age. (I was born in 1950, so I"m not terribly far behind Vee and Carolyn.) I just thought it seemed cool to have memories of the Queen's coronation.

Kathy, I know you weren't picking on us oldies with long memories!

I was mid-teens then and can recall that time very well. It rained on the day, as it looks like being wet this time too!

The Queen of Tonga was praised for leaving her carriage roof open and had a song written about that! I just Googled the words and can recall the jaunty music.

My grandmother was shocked that my mother let me go to a Coronation event dance until I explained it was just country dances held in a nearby field, not a public dance hall.

We had a street party too but our family didn't know anyone with a television set so I think we must have listened to the actual event on the radio.

The BBC commentators were well able to describe events from sports to circuses and we were used to hearing these broadcasters and using our imaginations!

Kathy.........I do not take umbrage !

I just watched a show on BritBox about various aspects of the coronation tomorrow--crowns, symbolic items, clothing, who's invited and who's not etc. Familiar commentators and interesting. I must say that to me the coronation of a queen is more visually appealing than that of a king--beautiful gowns, lovely young ladies such as Elizabeth herself was, jewelry and so much more.

And it's my personal opinion that Camilla should have remained a duchess. The Duke of Edinburgh served the country well and long and kept the status of duke. Not even prince, much less king consort or king. Camilla has too much baggage for me to accept her as queen--tho I'm American so it doesn't really matter. She's done well in recent years but still....

Camilla appears to have played her hand well.

I wondered how Diana would have looked then I remembered she said that she didn't want to be Queen.

On the personal side, I think Camilla wears her hair too long. A shorter style would suit better.

What coronation? It's Derby Day in Kentucky.

Did any of you watch any of the Coronation on TV?

yoyo re Camilla 'playing her hand well' . . . and I don't want to land-up in the Tower of London for this . . .but, not unlike Wallis Simpson back in the '30's who never thought/wanted to become Queen and was probably happier being the significant other to Edward P of W. This time social mores have greatly relaxed and it appears that Chas. made it clear that, for him, Camilla was a no-go discussion point. No interventions from Church, State, Heads of Commonwealth Govts. etc. So I feel that these decisions were taken out of her hands. Of course I suppose she could always have said "No" . . . and I can think of nothing worse than becoming a 'Royal-in-Waiting' with the constant exposure to the press, gossip columns (much as I'm doing here) the expectation from family and public. Do wealth and privilege really make up for ones own quality of life?

I noticed quite a few comments on the Kitchen Table thread re the Coronation. I suppose 95% are from the US, the rest mainly Canadian and most fairly positive. People enjoyed the music, the pageantry, the Jubilee coach (made by craftsmen in Australia for the late Queen) Others found the 'costumes' strange, perhaps not understanding that many of them were those worn by members of the Order of the Garter. Prince William didn't kiss his father as a gesture of affection but as part of the Oath of Fealty which dates back hundreds of years. My favourite comment was one that said Princess Anne was rude for blocking Prince Harry's view, by wearing a big hat! She was dressed in the uniform of the C in C of a regiment. I only found out yesterday that the first Coronation was that of King Edgar in 973 in Bath. The next one of significance was that of William the Conqueror in 1066. Both slightly before my time.

Vee.....thanks for your input ! Regarding Wallis, I've read that her greatest aspiration was to be Queen with Edward as King. When he abdicated her hopes were dashed and she was stuck with him. That, in fact, was one of Hitler's promises when wining and dining them was thatr he'd march her back into England with great honors .

I watched every minute I could--tho I couldn't quite get up at 5am for the beginning of it. I do love all the pageantry, the meaningful objects used during the ceremony, the clothing. It is largely a religious ceremony, much of it established when England was Catholic.

I thought Kate looked stunning and regal, born for the part. The children were amazing. As a mother and grandmother, I stand in awe. They are very young to sit thru such a long ceremony and do so quietly and attentively.

I'm so glad Harry came, for his father's sake. He has been awful but he did the right thing. I did wonder if Anne's feather had been planned on purpose...we'll never know.

And sorry to end on an unpleasant note but the one to compare with conniving Wallis Simpson is Meghan, not Camilla. Read the Andrew Morton very positive biography of Meghan, published during the engagement when people had high hopes. I said at the time, This will not end well. Voraciously ambitious woman.

Vee, I didn't plan to watch as I get nervous about something going wrong at live events!

However I did accidentally turn on the TV at the moment of the crownings, thinking it was going to show a news noon time broadcast. Similarly the balcony appearance!

I do plan to watch a TV program tonight with highlights and interviews now it is safely over.

A couple of commentators were, I think, a bit mean in references to Camilla's past and the way she was viewed by the public for a long time. Old history now but from what I have read, I blame Louis Mountbatten and his interference and family ambition.

Rosefolly, could the book you are thinking of be Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart? It’s set at the time of Elizabeth’s coronation, but the heroine is English, not American.

Rouan, you may be right. I have a copy so I'll go take a look. I had been thinking Barbara Michaels was a better fit, but I think she was still writing her Gothic thrillers at the time I think I read this book, and that is not such a good fit. Thanks!

Yoyobon, I got a copy of The Coronation Year from the library and have begun to read it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Well, I think they had a lot of nerve to schedule the coronation on our 40th wedding anniversary! We were on a cruise ship with good friends of 35+ years so we had an excellent day. 😎

Donna

Donna, someone else who might have been unhappy was the mother of Prince Archie as it was his 4th birthday. No doubt she has fired off a message to Oprah and is waiting for an 'apology' from all concerned.

I watched the concert and thought it was well done. Some commentators were spiteful though. You can't please everyone...