Coronation of Queen Victoria

The coronation of Queen Victoria took place on 28 June 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne at the age of 18. The procession to and from the ceremony at Westminster Abbey was witnessed by unprecedentedly huge crowds, as the new railways made it easier for an estimated 400,000 to come to London from the rest of the country.

The ceremony cost £79,000 (£6.41 million as of 2015), which exceeded the £30,000 (£2.46 million as of 2015) spent on that of her predecessor William IV in 1831 but was far less than the £240,000 (£18.5 million as of 2015) for the grandiose coronation of his brother George IV in 1821. William IV's coronation had established much of what remains today the pageantry of the event, which had previously involved ceremonies in Westminster Hall (now attached to the Houses of Parliament) before a procession on foot across the road to the Abbey. This form was replaced with a procession through the streets with the new monarch in the Gold State Coach or Coronation Coach, dating to 1762 and still used in coronations, with many other coaches and a cavalry escort.

The procession by coach of 1831 was again adopted in 1838, and has been followed in all subsequent coronations. The road route was extended to allow for more spectators, taking a nearly circular route from the Queen's new home at the just-completed Buckingham Palace via Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, St James's Street, Pall Mall, Charing Cross and Whitehall. The budget stressed the procession and there was no coronation banquet; according to The Gentleman's Magazine it was the longest coronation procession since that of Charles II in 1660. The weather was fine and the day was generally considered a great success by the press and wider public, though those inside the Abbey witnessed a good deal of mishaps and confusion, and there was Radical opposition, especially in northern England.

...
Wikipedia