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Show .- : ; , - . : ; I King George VI. - , - ' V ; I 1 - ' I ' ' : - , .- :i v- - .-'. , J . At v'i fyf I v I I, ' r v s E...v-aLtu dfeSfco . . .-. .-. : . .. ... -. . . . : .-. ..w.v....- Queen Elizabeth, 5,000,000 Line London Streets to View Coronation Procession I London, England. (Spe- cial) A full day of mortal toil for the principals concerned, con-cerned, and a day and night of heroic vigil for thousands of spectators were required before George VI and Elizabeth, Eliza-beth, his queen, returned to Buckingham palace, full-fledged full-fledged ruler and consort of Britain by virtue of one of the most splendid and spectacular spec-tacular coronations the world , has ever seen. I Five million persons, it was estimated, esti-mated, lined the processional route, j over which the King and Queen in the ancient coronation coach rolled solemnly the six and one-half miles from the palace to Westminster abbey ab-bey in mid-morning and back again in the early evening. j The solemnity of the occasion was observed by the crowd, even by the 300,000, mostly non-Britons, who had come from across the seas to witness it. But the cheers were Heir presumptive to the most important im-portant throne on earth is charming, ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth. hale and hearty and the attitude was one of celebration as the roar of the guns in the historic Tower of London split the air of the spring afternoon. It was the signal that George VI had worn upon his head for the first time the Crown of St. Edward, or Crown of England, and called for the cry from 5,000,000 throats as one, "God Save the King!" Hotels Sold Out. This was probably the most important im-portant point in the entire coronation corona-tion ceremony, which was heavily religious throughout and extremely burdensome to the principals as well as to the 9,000 peers and their ladies who gathered in old Westminster West-minster abbey to do homage to their king and to display for one day jewels and trappings the cost of which ran far into the millions. It was the climax of the occasion for which souvenir manufacturers had been planning for many months; for which every hotel and boarding house room in London and its environs was sold out; for which apartments rented up to $3,000 for a single day; for which the government govern-ment had spent $2,600,000, with a prospect of getting back perhaps $400,000 from the sale of seats along the processional route at $2 to $250 a head. Souvenir manufacturers, distracted distract-ed at first over the abdication of King Edward VIII for they had struck his likeness off on millions of medals, spoons, plates and other articles later became jubilant. For the souvenir collectors were so anxious anx-ious to obtain the mistaken souvenirs souve-nirs that the latter sold at a premium. pre-mium. That the sentiment for the crown, which is the chief bond holding the Empire together, lives healthy and strong was apparent from the thousands thou-sands who. not being able to afford reserved seats, took their stand along the curbs long before the setting of the sun on May 11. All night they had to stick to their watch and all the next day. Yet they did not even see the coronation ceremony itself. They witnessed only the procession as it passed up the Mall. Queen Precedes King. The ceremony at the abbey was only for the peerage, the persons of royal blood and the king's representatives. repre-sentatives. With the clergy, they were waiting at the west door of the handsome Gothic edifice, taking their places inside as the approach of the coronation coach, an ornate vehicle made for Queen Anne in 1761, was noted. Once inside they were doomed to sit for seven hours in their heavy trappings of crimson or purple velvet and ermine, never moving from the 19-inch seat spaces allotted them until the end of the day, after the King and Queen had departed. When the coach pulled up, Queen Elizabeth proceeded ahead to the recognition chairs, there to await her lord. When King George entered, en-tered, to the sound of anthems and pravers. he was introduced to the four sides of the assemblage by the archbishop of Canterbury, who assumed the mastery of the ceremonies ceremo-nies from that point on. It was the archbishop who, a few minutes later, was to ask the king: "Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the oath?" The king answered, according to the ritual, "I am willing," will-ing," and the Archbishop questioned him: "Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the peoples of Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union Un-ion of South Africa, of your possessions posses-sions and the other territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, pertain-ing, and of your Empire of India, according to their respective laws and customs?" "I solemnly promise to do so," the king replied. "Will you to your power cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed exe-cuted in all your judgments?" the archbishop asked. And the king replied, re-plied, "I will." He promised further to uphold the clergy and the Church of England. King Given His Vestments. . There followed a long drawn out communion service during which the king was presented with the various jewels with which the office of-fice vests him, and was anointed upon the hands, breast and face with the holy oil. Among the jewels jew-els presented him were the staff and sceptre, with the cross and golden spurs, handed down from the time of St. Edward; the three jeweled swords signifying mercy, temporal justice and spiritual justice; jus-tice; the king's sceptre with the dove symbolic of mercy and equity; the sword of state; the king's gold and diamond orb, surmounted by the Christian cross; the crown of state and the imperial crown of India. In-dia. The jewels used in the ceremonies cere-monies are reputed to be worth at least $25,000,000. Then as the king kneeled before the altar, the archbishop placed the Crown of St. Edward upon his head, but only for a fleeting moment for its weight is unbearable. He prayed: "God crown you with a crown of glory and righteousness, that by the ministry of this our benediction, having a right faith and manifold fruit of good works, you may obtain the crown of an everlasting kingdom king-dom by the gift of him whose kingdom king-dom endureth forever." The choir sang: "Be strong and play the man; keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways." Solemn, thought-provoking advice for the man who must wear the crown of one of the most important impor-tant nations on earth in times when the seething caldron of the world's hate threatens hourly to boil over. |