Crown the Queen

Sixty nine years ago, in 1953, I used to play a card game with my brother called "Crown the Queen". You had to build up a procession of cards, starting with a page boy and working your way up through the hierarchy of the long coronation procession until you reached the Queen herself, which meant you were the winner. I wonder if any other blippers remember it?

Today, like millions of others, my husband and I sat and watched the glorious spectacle of the Trooping of the Colour. It was good to see the huge crowds having such a wonderful time, and a real bonus that the weather was so kind. After all the sadnesses and hardships that everyone has endured over the past couple of years it was very moving to see such unabashed joy and pride once again, and very emotional for us to watch the Queen lead the royal family on to the balcony at Buckingham Palace to acknowledge the jubilant cheers of the crowd and to watch the spectacular fly past.

For my blip today I’ve chosen to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign by photographing the front cover of this week’s Country Life magazine, alongside a hand decorated commemorative plate from the Queen’s coronation in 1953. 

This plate was a thank you present to my parents (together with a matching cup and saucer) from the owner of the pottery where it was made. We met him in the early 1960s when he and his family were staying on holiday in the same hotel as us on the Isle of Wight. My father (a tennis coach who had also played table tennis for England at one time) spotted a very talented young lad playing table tennis in the hotel games room down in the basement, and he gave him some friendly coaching. The young lad’s main sport, though, was tennis, and not long afterwards he was sponsored by the Lawn Tennis Association and needed to move down from the Potteries to stay near London for a couple of years while he trained with the LTA.

My parents offered to have him stay with them, which he did until he finished his LTA training. He went on to play in Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon, and married  another well-known professional player. I still treasure this plate, and all the happy memories associated with it.