Summary

The author reflects on their personal experiences and memories coinciding with Queen Elizabeth II's 70-year reign, from their childhood excitement during the Coronation to their current reflections on the Queen's aging and the impending reign of King Charles.

Abstract

The author, who was nine years old when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, recounts the excitement of watching the Coronation on television and the celebrations in Ramsgate, including street parties and costume contests. They reminisce about their own Coronation-themed costume and the joy of a Coronation song, "In A Golden Coach," which they wanted to perform at a talent contest. The author shares a link to a recording of the song by Dickie Valentine, expressing fondness for it despite not being a fervent royalist. As the Queen's reign comes to a close, the author contemplates the difficulty of imagining a King Charles and doubts they will feel the same connection to future royal songs. The piece concludes with an invitation for readers to subscribe to Medium to support writers, including the author.

Opinions

The author has a nostalgic affection for the Queen's early years, as they grew up alongside her reign.
They express a sense of shared aging with the Queen, though they are quick to note she is older.
The author is not a staunch supporter of the monarchy but admits to a sentimental attachment to the Queen and the era she represents.
They are skeptical about the future of the monarchy, particularly regarding King Charles III's eventual reign.
The author values the support of readers for writers on Medium, emphasizing the mutual benefits of a subscription.

The Queen & I: 70 years on the throne for her, 70 years and counting for me

National Media Museum from the UK, via Wikimedia Commons

I was nine when Elizabeth was crowned queen. It was all very exciting.

My mum took us up to London to watch the ceremony on my Aunty Ida’s telly. This involved a journey from Ramsgate, where we lived, to Victoria Coach Station and then a London bus to Edmonton and the telly in the parlour. (We didn’t have a TV until I was about eleven.)

I want to say the journey took four hours, but Ramsgate is only 77 miles south of London. Still, I suppose it might have taken that long — no motorways at that time and the requisite stop for toilets and tea at a place I think was called, understandably, the Halfway House,

I found this getting to London part almost as exciting as sitting on the floor watching the fuzzy black-and-white broadcast of the Coronation.

But, back in Ramsgate, there were Coronation celebrations galore — street parties with special Queen Elizabeth teacups and saucers and contests for the best Queen Elizabeth costume.

Mine, modelled after Elizabeth’s ermine-trimmed robe, involved my mum’s old purple dressing-gown trimmed with cotton wool which I carefully marked with black ink. I think I also carried an orb and sceptre; can’t quite recall how I achieved this, possibly a tennis ball wrapped in gold Christmas paper for the orb, the fireplace poker for the sceptre.

There was a Coronation song that year, probably hundreds of songs, but seven decades later, I can still sing all the words to one in particular: In A Golden Coach.

Memorable because I’d begged my mum to let me sing it in a talent contest taking place in the Merry England amusement park on Ramsgate’s seafront — incidentally almost the same spot where a few years on I first kissed a boy.

Since my singing talent was (and still is) pain-inducing at best, my mum wisely resisted my entreaties.

It occurs to me that I could include a video of myself singing In A Golden Coach . . . nooooooooo? It’s ok, I understand.

Just in case you'd like to hear In a Golden Coach, I’ve included the link to a recording of Dickie Valentine’s rendition. I thought he was dreamy when I saw him in a London pantomime, but I was ten at the time.

Now . . . well, I’ll leave you to judge. Here’s the link:

And here are the words.

In a golden coach, there’s a heart of gold Driving through old London town With the sweetest Queen, the world’s ever seen Wearing her golden crown. As she drives in state through the palace gate Her beauty the whole world will see In a golden coach, there’s a heart of gold That belongs to you and me.

In a golden coach, there’s a heart of gold Driving through old London town She’s the sweetest Queen the world’s ever seen Wearing her golden crown. As she drives in state through the palace gate Her beauty the whole world will see In a golden coach, there’s a heart of gold That belongs to you and me.

Although I’ve never been a huge fan of Royalty — please, no offence intended, I have my reasons — that song almost makes me choke up.

I think it’s because I can barely remember the time before Elizabeth became queen. As I child, I was fascinated by stories and pictures of her childhood, and then those of her children — the first two. By the time Andrew and Edward were born, I was in my teens and babies, even royal ones, held no interest.

Over the years of her seven-decade reign, I’ve watched the Queen age as I've aged myself — although, I hasten to add, she does have twenty years or so on me.

But now, as she walks with the aid of a stick and preparations are underway for the eventual transition, I have great difficulty imagining a King Charles.

It will happen though and there will probably be songs about him too, but I doubt I’ll remember the words.

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