In June 1953, 27 million people in the UK gathered around their television sets to see 27-year-old Elizabeth Alexandra Mary crowned queen in a three-hour ceremony. Some 70 years later, on May 6, Charles Philip Arthur George will be, at 74, the oldest monarch ever crowned in the grand Westminster Abbey ceremony that dates to the 11th century. The plans, code-named “Operation Golden Orb,” call for shorter formalities, though the anointment with holy oil and the presentation of the scepter and orb will go on.
Even those who aren’t among the 2,000 invitees to the abbey will be primed to celebrate around London. After all, no one has seen a coronation in this part of the world for more than half a century.
