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The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon took place on 2 June 1953. Elizabeth ascended the thrones of these countries at age 25, upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was proclaimed queen by her various privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation was delayed for more than a year because of the tradition that such a festival was inappropriate during the period of mourning that followed the death of the preceding sovereign. In the ceremony itself, at Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth swore an oath to uphold the laws of her nations and to govern the Church of England. Celebrations took place and a commemorative medal was issued throughout the Commonwealth realms. ==Preparations== For the one-day coronation ceremony, 16 months of preparation took place, with the first meeting of the Coronation Commission taking place in April 1952, under the chairmanship of the Queen's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (later Prince Philip). Other committees, such as the Coronation Joint Committee and the Coronation Commission, were established and were more international in nature; high commissioners from other Commonwealth realms were members of these groups, reflecting the dual domestic and international nature of the coronation. Still, though British organisers wanted it to be otherwise, no officials from any Commonwealth realm other than the UK would participate in the event itself; the governments of those countries considered the ceremony to be a religious rite unique to Britain; as Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent said at the time: "in my view the Coronation is the official enthronement of the Sovereign as Sovereign of the U.K... We are happy to attend and witness the Coronation of the Sovereign of the U.K. but we are not direct participants in that function." The Coronation Commission announced in June 1952 that the coronation would take place one year later, on 2 June. Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary died on 24 March 1953, having stated in her will that her death should not affect the planning of the coronation, and the event went ahead as scheduled. Norman Hartnell was commissioned by the Queen to design the outfits for all the members of the Royal Family and especially the dress Elizabeth would wear at the coronation; Hartnell's design for the latter evolved through nine proposals, the final reached by his own research as well as numerous personal meetings with the Queen. What resulted was a white silk dress embroidered with the floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth at the time: the Tudor rose of England, the Scots thistle, the Welsh leek, Irish shamrock for Northern Ireland, the wattle of Australia, the maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute; unknown to the Queen at the time of the gown's delivery, though, was the unique four-leaf clover embroidered on the dress' left side, where Elizabeth's hand would touch throughout the day. Elizabeth, meanwhile, rehearsed for the upcoming day with her maids of honour, a sheet used in place of the velvet train and an arrangement of chairs standing in for the carriage. So that she could become accustomed to its feel and weight, the Queen also wore the Imperial State Crown while she went about her daily business, sporting it at her desk, at tea, and while reading the newspaper.〔 Elizabeth took part in two full rehearsals at Westminster Abbey, on 22 and 29 May, though other sources assert that the Queen attended either "several" rehearsals or one. Typically, the Duchess of Norfolk stood in for the Queen at rehearsals. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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