Admittedly, I approached Coronation Day with some reservations. As a steadfast devotee of The Queen, I am still coming to terms with her death. It is difficult for me to accept that she is no longer head of the British monarchy and even more difficult to accept that she is no longer with us on earth. I miss The Queen.
Not only is The Queen's 70-year reign a tough act to follow but so is her coronation. In 1953, times were different so Elizabeth could go all out, having 8000 guests, rather than the meager 2200 guests Charles felt he needed to limit himself to. And when you get right down to it, Queens are more interesting than Kings. Queens have fashion and jewelry, while Kings order beheadings.
The Queen wasn't the most fashion-forward gal, I'll admit, but I always loved her color-coordinated ensembles. They suited her style. And who could forget those priceless handbags, with next to nothing in them? And her jewels. Oh, those jewels!
King Charles may not order beheadings, but I am still not sure if I'm not particularly keen on him. I can't figure out if that's because I'm comparing him to The Queen, who is incomparable, or because I am not particularly keen on him in general. He does come with a lot of baggage (Princess Diana, Camillagate), which doesn't help his likability. However, it's not as if we have any choice in the matter, so embrace him, we must.
Given my lack of excitement about Charles and Camilla, I was determined to focus more on the clothing and jewelry at The Coronation. You can never go wrong with that at a royal celebration. The outfits were marvelous, especially those hats! But I must say that Queen Camilla's necklace stole the show (in addition to the always adorable George, Charlotte, and Louis). As soon that necklace, I had to learn more about it.
Luckily I didn't have to go far to find out. I have a book I keep in a prominent place in my foyer called, The Queen's Jewels. It is a catalog, of sorts, of all The Queen's jewelry. It includes a history of each piece as well as photos of royal family members, going back to Queen Victoria, wearing the various pieces. It's fabulous!
It didn't take long for me to find the necklace and earrings in the book. Queen Victoria's Collet Necklace and Earrings. Otherwise known as the Coronation Necklace and Earrings. https://people.com/royals/queen-camilla-coronation-necklace-everything-to-know/ Since I had the book out, I took the opportunity to refresh myself on other jaw-dropping pieces in The Queen's Collection, which made for a nice way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday morning. Eventually, I had to put the book away (as well as the fantasies I have when paging through it, that I might somehow wear one of those pieces someday) and prepare breakfast for my clamoring clan.
Despite missing The Queen and finding Charles and Camilla a bit humdrum to watch, I decided to carry on with it and embrace the day. Since we like to celebrate everything at our house, we decided to make it a party. My friend Courtenay had sent me the recipe for Coronation Chicken earlier in the week, so we took it from there.
Our British-inspired meal, the guest's outfits, and Camilla's necklace and earring set were more interesting than Charles and Camilla themselves, but a nice day was still had by all, Charles will never be The Queen, but I've decided to give him a chance since his mother would undoubtedly have wanted it that way.
We set a festive British table for our celebration.
Everyone (including Granny, who is always in attendance at our celebrations) got their own whimsical placemat.
Catherine and Graham were instrumental in preparing the Coronation Chicken recipe, which was served at The Queen's Coronation Luncheon in 1953.
Although more of a luncheon menu, we chose to have our celebratory meal at dinnertime, including a proper pot of English tea to accompany our tea sandwiches (filled with Coronation Chicken) and warm pea soup.