On June 2, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 65 years since her coronation, held at the Westminster Abbey on the same day in 1953. Then, thousands of guests witnessed the historic ascension of the 27-year-old Elizabeth to the throne, while 11 million Britons listened to the event on radio, and 27 million watched it on TV. The CBS News writes that journalist Walter Cronkite was the first to broadcast the event in America, using an improvised studio in a hangar in Boston’s Logan Airport. Meanwhile, the Royal Central web resource reports that the Canadians and Americans were able to watch Elizabeth’s coronation on the same day as the British only because the BBC’s records of the events were transported across the Atlantic by Royal Air Force aircraft. Formally, Elizabeth assumed her duties as Queen on February 6, 1952, when she learned, while visiting Kenya, that her father, King George VI, had died. That is why the Sapphire Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking 65 years of her reign, was celebrated last year. The Express publication notes that there were no official celebrations for the coronation anniversary in Britain this year, and Elizabeth spent June 2 attending one of her favorite entertainments, the Epsom Derby.
Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II with John Warren, Her Majesty’s horse caretaker.
