On 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey, more than a year after her accession to the throne. It marked the first time the event was broadcast live on television, bringing the monarchy into the homes of millions.

The queen succeeded her father, King George VI, as monarch following his death on 6 February 1952.

The decision to televise the coronation, against the initial advice of prime minister Winston Churchill, was a landmark moment in the history of both the monarchy and broadcasting. An estimated 27 million people in the United Kingdom watched the service on television, outnumbering the 11 million who listened on the radio. The population of Britain at the time was just over 36 million. Many families bought or rented television sets specifically for the occasion, and thousands more watched in cinemas, pubs, and community halls.

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The ceremony itself, the culmination of 14 months of preparation, was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. During the three-hour service, the 27-year-old monarch took the coronation oath to “maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine worship, discipline, and government thereof, as the law established in England.”

She was anointed with holy oil, invested with robes and regalia, and crowned with St Edward’s Crown, to shouts of “God Save the Queen”.

Elizabeth II was the thirty-ninth sovereign and the sixth queen to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. Her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, knelt before her to pay homage, swearing to be her “liege man of life and limb”.

He said: “I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God.”

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8,000 guests, including heads of state and prime ministers from around the world, were in attendance.

Despite heavy rain, an estimated three million people lined the streets of London to watch the grand procession of soldiers and statesmen from around the commonwealth that accompanied the queen’s golden state coach to and from the abbey. Street parties, meanwhile, were held throughout the UK.

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In a radio broadcast on the evening of her Coronation, the queen said: “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust”.

She added: “As this day draws to its close, I know that my abiding memory of it will be, not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony, but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection. I thank you all from a full heart. God bless you all.”