Queen’s coronation: Liberty under authority

I was fortunate enough to have been offered a job as a teacher at the newly-built Five Rivers TIA School in Arouca, which opened its doors to some 150 pupils six weeks before the coronation. There were nine other teachers at the school and we were all asked to prepare the children for celebrating the occasion.

So on the big day, we took the children on a long trek along the Eastern Main Road, from Five Rivers to the Tacarigua recreation ground, where we joined others from surrounding schools for the celebrations. The memory of all this came back to me quite clearly on Tuesday, as I watched the service at Westminster Abbey marking the 60th anniversary of that historic day.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reminded the congregation of the moment when the Queen knelt at the Abbey’s High Altar and said a prayer “at the beginning of a path of demanding devotion and utter self-sacrifice, a path she did not choose, yet to which she was called by God.”

He said her pledge of allegiance to God symbolised the model of liberty and authority which Britain enjoys. He added, “Liberty is only real when it exists under authority. Liberty under authority begins with our duty to God whose service is perfect freedom.”

The service was based on the coronation itself and included much of the music played in 1953. Many of those who took part in the event 60 years ago, including former choir boys and maids of honour, were among the 2,000 invited guests.

On the High Altar was the solid gold St Edward’s Crown, taken out of the Tower of London for the first time since it was placed on the Queen’s head in 1953. Within an hour of the end of the service, it was on its way back to the Tower, carried in a leather box and driven in a minibus with a police escort.

During the service, Prince Philip, the Queen’s consort of more than 65 years, sat beside her, determined to be there, despite pulling out of an engagement the previous evening because he felt unwell. The Prince, who will be 92 tomorrow, appeared in good spirits.

In a sign of the huge changes the Queen has witnessed over the 60 years of her reign, the service, although Anglican, provided for representatives of many other faiths, including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and Buddhists, as well as the main Christian churches.

Prime Minister David Cameron read the story of Zadok from the Book of Kings. He had obviously gone to some trouble to get his pronunciation right, given his assured delivery of Biblical tongue-twisters such as “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Cherethites and Pelethites”.

The changing face of the Royal family was reflected in the gathering that included two Kings-in-waiting (Prince Charles, 64, and his son Prince William, 30) plus a heavily-pregnant Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, carrying a third future monarch, due to be born in just over a month’s time.

There are those who look at the Royal family and see privilege, an outdated institution and unearned wealth. They ask, “Does the Queen matter?” Well, yes, she does, because she has been the calm, dutiful centre of a changing nation. Through the 60 turbulent years since the Crown was placed on her head, she has been an icon of stability, decency and national pride.

In 1953, more than 8,200 guests witnessed the historic proceedings in the Abbey and an estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the events unfold on television. The anniversary service this year was not only televised around the world but was also on Twitter.

Sixty years ago, as I joined the celebrations at the Tacarigua recreation ground, I had not the slightest idea of what was actually taking place at the Abbey. All we knew in Trinidad was that our new Queen was being crowned. We understood even less of what that really meant. Today, however, I am very pleased to be able to write about it from London.