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Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. Her birthday is usually celebrated in private with her family, with several gun salutes in London at midday. This year, however, the Queen requested no special measures for her birthday amid the coronavirus crisis. Her official birthday celebration, Trooping the Colour, was supposed to take place on June 13, but has been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.

Unfortunately, the Queen will have to celebrate a huge milestone in lockdown with Prince Philip – her coronation anniversary.

Queen Elizabeth had her coronation on June 2, 1953, as the whole country joined in the royal festivities.

Although the Queen had already been serving as reigning monarch for several months before this date, her coronation marked the day she officially became Queen.

The Queen took over the throne aged just 25, after her father, King George VI, died of coronary thrombosis at the age of 56.

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The planning process for the coronation began when the young then-Princess was only 11.

Her Majesty’s father asked Elizabeth to pen a review of his own coronation in 1937, so she could understand all the elements involved.

According to Vanity Fair, the future Queen wrote: “I thought it all very, very wonderful and I expect the Abbey did too.

“The arches and the beams at the top were covered in a sort of haze of wonder as Papa was crowned, at least I thought so.”

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After months of planning, the Queen was crowned at 11:15am on June 2, and has gone on to serve 67 years on the throne, rendering her Britain’s longest-serving monarch.

The event was the first coronation ever to be televised in British history and sealed the future of television.

More than 20million people tuned in to watch the service, outnumbering the radio audience for the first time ever.

The BBC’s coverage of the coronation was broadcast all over the world.

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In the US, 85 million people watched recordings of the highlights, while in Germany all 11 hours of coverage was transmitted.

A personal account from someone who witnessed the historic day, reported by history-UK.com, read: “The only problem on the actual day was the typical British weather… it poured with rain!

“But that didn’t stop people all over the country holding parties in the decorated streets of their towns and cities, and in London the roads were packed with people waiting to see the processions that took place.

“The massed London crowds refused to be downhearted by the weather, and most of them had spent the night before on the crowded pavements, waiting for this special day to begin.

“And for the first time ever, the ordinary people of Britain were going to be able to watch a monarch’s coronation in their own homes.”

Following the day’s events, the Queen made a broadcast to the nation on the evening of her coronation, thanking the public for their support.

She said: ‘Throughout this memorable day I have been uplifted and sustained by the knowledge that your thoughts and prayers were with me.

“I have been aware all the time that my people, spread far and wide throughout every continent and ocean in the world, were united to support me in the task to which I have now been dedicated with such solemnity.”

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