On this day in 1953, for the first time ever, the coronation of an English sovereign was shown on television when Elizabeth II was crowned in a lavish and historic ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Her heavily embroidered coronation gown on that day, designed by Norman Hartnell, featured the floral emblems of most of her realms, including the Tudor rose of England, the Scots thistle, the Welsh leek, the shamrock of Ireland, the wattle of Australia, the maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton and jute.
A colour film was also made of the event, entitled A Queen Is Crowned, which was exhibited all over the world to great acclaim; narrated by Laurence Olivier, the film has been released on DVD in the UK but not in North America.
Long may she reign!
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