The 1953 Coronation on TV. Concerns people would watch it in the pub
The last Coronation was on 2nd June 1953. It rained.
It was the first Coronation to be televised and its often noted that it led to a boom in TV ownership.
That is only partly correct.
The Queen was thought to be nervous of cameras and the Archbishop of Canterbury was concerned that the Coronation as a religious ceremony would be watched not only by people In their homes but in pubs.
Churchill, then PM, was very much in favour of people watching it in pubs and the Queen came round to the idea of a televised ceremony.
The BBC broadcast the Coronation from 10am to 11.30pm with commentary by Richard Dimbleby. There were an estimated 2.5 million TV sets and 20 million watched it-40% of the population. 12 million listened on the radio.
In the following 12 months sales of TV sets surged by 50% but the beginning of the take off had been not with the Coronation but the funeral of the King in 1952.
In 2023 the BBC and others will broadcast the Coronation. How many will actually watch on TV as opposed to tablets and phones is another matter. Some local authorities are wasting public money by showing it on big screens.
Meanwhile the current Archbishop of Canterbury is still promoting it as a religious ceremony so the bit when King Charlie is anointed with oil will take place behind a screen and not be seen on TV. Churchill would not have been impressed.
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