Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Edinburgh in her coronation portrait, 2 June 1953
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| Date | 2 June 1953 |
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| Location | London, United Kingdom |
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 Elizabeth is Queen (1953) a colour documentary by British Pathé
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The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth ascended the throne at the age of 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 took place more than a year later because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning that follows the death of a monarch and also on account of the need to make preparations for the ceremony. During the service, she took and subscribed an oath to, among other things, govern the peoples according to their respective laws and customs, was anointed with holy oil, presented and invested with regalia, and crowned.
Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth realms and a commemorative medal was issued. It was the first British coronation to be televised.
For the one-day coronation ceremony, there were 14 months of preparation: the first meeting of the Coronation Commission was in April 1952, under the chairmanship of the Queen's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Other committees were also formed, such as the Coronation Joint Committee and the Coronation Executive Committee, both chaired by the Duke of Norfolk who, by convention as Earl Marshal, had overall responsibility for the ceremony. Much of the physical preparations and decorations along the route were under the responsibility of David Eccles, Minister of Works. Eccles described his role and that of the Earl Marshal thus: "The Earl Marshal is the producer – I am the stage manager..."
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