From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli

I remember the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II – 2 June, 1953, as if it were yesterday. It was broadcast live by the ABC, and I listened on the Bakelite wireless.

I WAS five, and living in Gwalia, in the north-eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The service started at 11am GMT, and 6pm in the West.

For whatever reason, my late mother, Beria, and I were at home alone. She was ironing on the kitchen table. I was mesmerised by all that was happening. How much I remember, or understood, is difficult to tell. Over the years I have done so many stories on the event, and covered various aspects of royal family, fact and fiction from 1953 have become clouded in my mind.

Of what I am certain is the impact it had on the little white-haired boy. Also, I have watched, several times, the Laurence Olivier narrated film, A Queen Is Crowned, shot in technicolour and released soon after the event.

The late Sir Norman Hartnell designed and made The Queen’s coronation gown. On one occasion it was on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I was leaving the next day and the exhibition had not opened. Kindly, they gave me access for the whole morning, alone. I spent an hour circling the dress, staring. It was the most glorious creation; a work of art which shimmered in the light. It was an arresting creation with a distinct personality. The beading – which took weeks to complete – was glorious.

Generously, Sir Norman Hartnell gave me a signed copy of the original design. It is much treasured and hangs in pride-of-place in my cottage.

Still, I have my coronation books which provided me with great comfort in some of the most turbulent times during my childhood. They were the fantasy world into which I retreated when all around me was confusion and anger.

The last coronation was 70 years ago. Now we have a new King, and by definition, his coronation should be different. Times have changed, irrevocably. The white Anglo-Saxon Britain responsible for the largest, and most powerful, empire in the world no longer exists. The red has gone from the atlas. That peers and peeresses of the realm have not been invited to the abbey makes good sense in the multi-faith, multi-ethnic based world in which we live.

Provocatively, Charles, as The Prince of Wales, publicly declared his ambition to be Defender of Faiths. It was an aspiration which did not sit easily with The Queen, or the implacability of the Anglican Church synod, of which The King is the head. Predictably, he was forced to recant, in the most diplomatic fashion. It was, we were reassured, a clarification and confirmation of his role as head of the Anglican Church. Some deemed it an opportunity missed.

Since the late 14th century every coronation ceremony has basically followed the same order of service laid down in the abbey’s magnificent medieval illuminated Latin manuscript, the Liber Regalis.

The coronation is a religious, initiation ritual, with some meanings lost in the mists of time. As Zadok the priest anointed Solomon, so, too, King Charles will be. This sacred moment binds The King, for life, to the service of his people.

The first coronation – William the Conqueror, was Christmas Day 1066. The first king to be crowned in the present abbey was Edward I, 1274.

King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation will be the 40th since 1066.

Roland can be contacted via [email protected].