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Page 20 text:
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CORONATION DIARY Only 3 a.m. and the alarm went! It was so cold in the cabin that it took us twenty minutes to get up the courage to rise and shine. We all put on two sweaters, our blazers, spring coats, and raincoats — we weren ' t going to freeze! Our buses were to leave at 4 a.m. but we didn ' t set forth until 5 as there was a mix-up over our lunches. In the end the group in our bus didn ' t get a dinner box. On arriving at Ecclestone Street we all (5 bus- loads) got out and marched (after a fashion) to our seats which are on the Mall. Everyone is bundled up because it is so cold, and there is a con- stant drizzle of rain. We were here in our seats by 6:30 a.m., but nothing started till a few minutes ago. It is about 8:00 now and the Coldstream, Welsh Irish and Scotch Guards are marching out of Buckingham Palace and taking their places along the Mall. Prince Charles and Princess Anne are at their nursery window watching the Guards lining up; through my binoculars I can see Charles pointing out something of interest to his sister. My hands are so cold that I can ' t write properly and it is starting to rain again, so I ' I I finish my notes tonight. (I wrote the above notes sitting in our stands which was situated at the head of the Mall opposite Buckingham Palace. We had a wonderful view of the Palace, Victoria Monument and the Mall and all the activities that took place, up and down the Mall all day.) About fifteen minutes after the Guards were assembled, the Irish State Coach left the Palace to drive to Clarence House for the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Later the carriage carrying the Duchess of Kent and her family, the one with the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Royal passed us. The Queen of Tonga went by, and everyone cheered and cheered because, even though it was drizzling, she rode in an open carriage. When the Golden State Coach carrying the Queen and her husband finally appeared through the gates of Buckingham Palace the crowds went MAD I Everyone cheered and cheered and cheered. What a relief it must have been to so many finally to see her after they had parked on street corners for so many hours! When the carriage passed by our stand, I got d wonderful view of the Queen through my binoculars. Words can ' t des- cribe how beautiful and regal looking she was. The Queen ' s procession to the Abbey and the solemn service of coronation was broadcast to us. The millions of people along the route to the Abbey sat in silence, while the cold rain dripped, listening to their Queen make a pledge to serve them. While the Queen was being anoited, the rain stopped, and miracu- lously the sun shone, weekly — but It shone! Troops from all over the Commonwealth marched before the Queen on her triumphant return to Buckingham Palace. As her carriage came into view the people would begin to sing Land of Hope and Glory . I don ' t think I will ever forget the spirit and endurance of the crowds of people! They sang when it rained, and cheered the men who came along to clean the streets before the Queen returned. It took us Canadians a (Continued on Page 19) -18-
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Page 21 text:
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CORONATION DIARY (Continued) while to get into the spirit of things, but it wasn ' t long before the rain didn ' t matter and we sang; Pack up your troubles was a favourite song along our section of the Mall. Finally the Queen ' s carriage came into view and there were rousing cheers. She looked quite tired, but managed to smile when she passed us. After a brief rest, the Royal family appeared on the balcony. A great shout went up and the people swarmed out of the stands and up the Mall to stand jam-packed at the gates of Buckingham Palace. Many people fainted but the St, John ' s Ambulance Corps couldn ' t even get through to them. We left our stands around 6:30 and it took us three quarters of an hour to walk to our buses. Finally, we arrived at Chigwell and had sup- per. Then we watched the fire-works, heard Churchill ' s speech and the Queen ' s on T.V. Now I ' m dead tired and ready for bed. I can ' t believe that I ' ve actually been to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. OFF TO PARIS! Exciting thought, isn ' t it? You can imagine how Violet and I felt on the morning of Tuesday, June 23. Here we were starting off on the first lap of our journey to the magical city of PAREEl At 6:30 we boarded the bus that took us to the airport. Soon we were in the plane flying over the Straight of Dover to Paris. Without Violet to speak French I would have been lost at the airport. It is enough trouble to get your bags and go through customs in the United States or Canada. At 11:30 we were driving through the streets of Paris. You could hear music coming from the side-walk cafes in which people were sitting and chatting. There were gay lights on all over the city — just as poets, writers and painters describe Paris, On Wednesday a friend of Violet ' s, whose mother has lived in Paris for eight years, offered to drive us around the city. Naturally, we ac- cepted. On the tour we saw the He Ste. Louis, the oldest quarter of Paris where many famous painters and sculptors lived. We went through the Bois de Boulogne, where the Longchamps race track is located. We rode down the Champs Elysees to the Arch of Triumph; it is magnificent; you feel as though you ought to be in an open limousine to get the full bene- fit of the view along the tree-lined street. We passed the Louvre, Notre Dame. Les Invalides, where Napoleon ' s tomb is. Grand Palais, where some Kings of their guests stayed when in Paris. That night we went to see Janine Solane in a ballet. It was wonderful. On Thursday we went to the Tuileries Gardens and we hod lunch there. That afternoon we walked along the Seine. Everyone has heard of how wonderful it is, but you have to walk yourself along the river to get the feeling . There are boxes on the walls above the river which hold (Continued on Page 20) -19-
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