Fireworks, lion dances and loyal toasts for coronation in Hong Kong … in 1953. A lot has changed between then and King Charles’ coronation
- When Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1953 Hong Kong played its part in the celebrations, with troops marching in London, fireworks and lion dances in the city
- King Charles’ coronation in a now-foreign country was a different matter, and a reminder of long cherished British traditions that have steadily diminished
Last weekend in London, coronation ceremonies for Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla came and went without a glitch. Contrasts abounded between this colourful, ritualised pageant, watched by countless millions across the world, and that held in 1953 for his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.
In 70 years, the entire world order has changed, and Britain’s role in global affairs, while still significant, no longer resembles what it then was.
Immediately after her coronation, the new queen spoke movingly of “the living strength of the Commonwealth and Empire; of societies old and new; of lands and races different in history and origin” and went on to conclude that all these disparate strands were “united in spirit and in aim”.
In 1953, this assertion was largely true. Representatives from British-ruled populations right across the globe were active participants in those faraway London events. Pathé colour newsreels of the coronation documented the distinctively uniformed Empire and Commonwealth armed forces contingents who marched in the enormous ceremonial parade that wound through London.
Everywhere under British rule sent their representatives, and Hong Kong was no exception; the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, and other local uniformed bodies, represented the colony in the march-past.