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may 1851 coronation supplement tag mm earl marshal of england duke of norfolk responsible for details of great ceremony on the eve of june 2nd 1953 the eyes of the world will be focussed upon westminster abbey and the historic cere- money to be enacted there hyde park will be crowded with sleepers there were 50000 last time determined to be first in place along the procession route the annexe to the abbey will have been built the precious tickets entitling the bearers to enter the abbey will have been issued and everyone will have been assigned a place in the coronation procession itself the crown jewels will be in the abbey under guard everything will be in readiness and within a few hours the spectacle with all its incredible complexity and colour will begin to unfold there will be mounting excitement but one man will be calm through it all he is the earl marshal of england his grace the duke of norfolk who by hereditary right is responsible for every detail of great ceremonial occasions although only 44 lie has carried out his duties since the age of 27 these have included arrangements for the funeral of king george v he coronation of king george vi and queen elizabeth in 1937 the wedding of our present queen and the funeral of king george vi on the last occasion he had only ten days in which to make the immensely detailed preparations yet the disciplined solemnity of that sad occasion won him high praise in his vivid scarlet tunic crossed with the blue sash of the order of the garter and carrying his golden baton the emblem of his ancient office he was an impressive figure the duke is head of the college of arms and of the kingsofarms heralds and their pursuivants some of their titles such as kouge dragon and blue- mantle pursuivant are as roman tic as their uniforms he is a multimillionaire has estates in sussex arundel castle is his fav ourite home sheffield dumfrie- shire caelaverock castle suf folk and oxfordshire his family plate is said to weigh a ton he is a roman catholic and has four daughters but no son masterly organizer the earl marshals habitual ex pression is one of quiet unruffled attention he is a masterly or ganizer and likes economy in words clear thinking and action whether as a farmer magistrate soldier or state official these qualities have all been remarked upon by those who work with him even so nobody has envied him his burden he has planned the route of the procession and coor dinated with the police plans for security and order these were con sultations with the heads of serv ice departments on the contingents and representatives of the various services in the procession and for the lining of the route the most precise arrangements were made with the constable of the tower of london for the transport and guarding of the priceless crown jewels the biggest headache undoubt edly was the allocation of tickets for the ceremony itself normally the abbey holds about 2500 people but at the last coronation the seating capacity was increased to 7700 tiers and galleries being erected within the abbey hun dreds of workmen erected the scaf folding laid protective covering on the stone floor and arranged temporary openings for ingress and egress glass was removed from some windows so that specta tors can go straight to their seats many problems among the most difficult de cisions to make were those regard ing the guest lists who should bs invited and where should they be placed nobody must be offended but there just isnt room for every one every dominion colony de pendency and the representatives of every foreign power had to be considered such was also the case in the claims of heredity canada is important but tiny san marino had to be remembered also nor could the limited seating be al located solely on the basis of em pire unity diplomatic precedence or historic predecent for public service must also be considered at the last coronation ordinary work ing people the widows or depen dents of some who had fallen in war had seats which were refused to the rich or highranking timing important the timing of everything is supremely important norfolk british travel association photo the duke of norfolk taken m uniform as earl marshall at the proclamation at st james palace e m as he signs himself tells bishops and ambassadors knights and newspapermen where to put themselves and when to arrive the contingents of the procession must know where to be and when to join up and there are number less physical details the laying of an immense carpet 173 feet long the preparation and placing of all the equipment used in the ritual works with commission much of the advance planning was done bv the coronation commission of which the duke of edinburgh is chairman and the earl marshal his deputy it in cludes 36 representatives of great britain canada australia new- zealand south africa pakistan and ceylon india being a re public within the commonwealth and not unlike other dominions acknowledging queen elizabeth as queen of india has no member on the commission it also includes the archbishop of canterbury dr fisher prominent ministers and representatives of the main poli tical parties numberless matters of delicacy are involved in the arrangements there were raised eyebrows at the last coronation for instance when the russian and german ambassa dors were placed next to each other the earl marshals vast experi ence was needed at sessions of queen mmsfjj iat continued from page 2 to take up his duties indias new high commissioner in london must be received the president and secretary call to submit the business of the royal academy of arts grasps essentials readily a host of official documents must be examined the cabinet agenda the contents of those red- leather covered despatch boxes from the foreign office the min utes and proceedings of defence committees there will be corres pondence or visits from her person al representatives abroad such as ambassadors and governorsgener al the state documents which go to the prime minister go also to the queen and she has already astonished those about her by her ready grasp of essentials these constitutional duties are not purely formal because if things are done in the name of the queen she must keep well informed about them every day for instance she reads a detailed summary of the commonwealth newspapers many documents to read documents are usually dealt with in the morning the queen sees her private secretary as soon as she has read the newspapers consults cabinet papers and then goes over the business of the day various other documents come for consid eration and then correspondence is answered there is hansard the scone in westminster abbey during the coronation of king george vi this il b reenacted when queen elizabeth ii is crowned june 2nd song competition for coronation year the uist and barra association of glasgow scotland is organizing a competi tion for a new song by a bard from the islands of uist or barra or for a new song composed in honour of either island verbatim proceedings of the house of commons and the house of lords to be read there will be appeals from municipalities chari ties and public institutions of all kinds hoping that she can grace their proceedings at lunch there is usually some important visitor afterwards there may be public duties often necessitating a long journey by train there may bo discussions with the keeper of the privy purse on the detailsof management of the royal estates there are details of the coronation to discuss with the earl marshal of england per haps the new designs for postage stamps or the new coinage will have to b examined or the ar rangements for some state function approved heavy correspondence correspondence is often very heavy and buckingham palace has naturally enough its own post of fice and on special occasions such as the death of king george vi the incoming mail can be enor mous on that occasion over 15000 letters and telegrams were rocciv- edin a single day the duties of a monarch have in creased immensely during the last 50 years mainly because participa tion in public life as distinct from constitutional and ceremonial life has grown as civilizaton has be come more complex remembering the strain to which the late king was subject and with an uneasy feeling that his uncomplaining ac ceptance of heavy burdens may have blinded us to the fact that they were too heavy even for a robust man hopes have been ex pressed that moderation will im leisurelv view of coronation coach for many britons few people are ever able to take a leisurely and detailed view of the coronation coach and its es cort they see it only as it passes on the crowded coronation route but a preview is to be provided this year three months before the queen is crowned a replica in full colour and exact detail on twothirds scale was made by artists and sculptors for presenta tion at the ideal home exhibition at olympia london march 328 this representation which in cludes the eight grey horses out riders walking men yeomen of the guard and the escorting offi cers of the household cavalry has cost many times the amount of the original coach when it was built in 1762 the british council of industrial design has announced a competi tion for designs of outdoor seats for parks beaches busstops and so on since many local authori ties plan to commemorate the cor onation by providing new public seats the council hopes to assist by fostering a high standard of design the court of claims an ancient tribunal which ever since the ac cession of richard ii in 1377 has met to consider claims to perform certain services for the sovereign the court usually meets in the privy council office in whitehall with either the lord chief justice or lord chancellor as president the most prominent of citizens concerned with- the coronation presented their claims in the normal way thus the claim from the dean and chapter of west minster abbey was to instruct the queen in the rites and cere monies and to assist the arch bishop of canterbury there was another claim to carry the royal standard of scotland as hereditary royal standard bearer for scotland all claimants trace their rights through ancestry or historic pre cedent but not all claims are easy to resolve should there for in stance be a queens champion the kings champion used to be one of the most interesting feat ures of the coronation a banquet at westminster hall once followed the coronation at which before food was served the lord high constable and earl marshal ac companied by the kings cham pion entered on horseback the herald would then proclaim that if any person of what degree soever high or low shall deny or gainsay our sovereign lord here is his champion who saith that he lieth and is a false traitor being ready in person to combat with him the kings champion then threw down the gauntlet which lay there until the herald picked it up and returned it to him three times the glove was thrown nobody in history ever accepted the challenge and then the king drank the champions health a pleasant custom but it went into disuse in 1821 a claim to exercise the right of champion may be made and heard however not remunerative what pay will the earl marshal get for arranging the greatest and solemn pageant in history his salary is 20 a year being a rich man 19s 6d in every 1 goes in income tax so in fact he will re ceive ten shillings for his years gruelling lab shown in public demands upon the queen the queen however has taken up her duties with unruffled en thusiasm and great understanding she has a mission which though well within her capacities few people in this world could under take successfully o there was an exhibition of westminster abbeys treasures in st jamess palace during febru ary and march plate vestments historic objects and works of art were shown including a portrait of richaid ii which is believed to be the earliest painted portrait of an english sovereign