Royal Guests at the Coronation of King George VI 

Royal Guests and Relatives from around the world joined the British Royal Family for the spectacular Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey on this day in 1937 (85 years ago).

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The British Royal Family were led by Queen Mary (wearing her Crown) and her sister-in-law, Queen Maud of Norway, (wearing her Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Circlet) along with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, as well as Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (wearing her Honeysuckle Tiara), Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (wearing the Kent Fringe Tiara and her Girandole Earrings), and Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (wearing the Harewood Scroll Tiara). The Royal Dukes sat in front of the Peers of the Realm.

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Extended members of the Royal Family in the Royal Box included Princess Helena Victoria (wearing her Honeysuckle Tiara), Princess Marie Louise (wearing her Cartier India Tiara), Lady Patricia Ramsay (wearing the Connaught Fringe Tiara), Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (wearing the Fife Tiara), Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk (in Queen Alexandra’s Amethyst Tiara), Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (wearing the Teck Ears of Wheat Tiara), the Marquess and Marchioness of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, the Marquess and Marchioness of Carisbrooke (wearing Queen Victoria’s Strawberry Leaf Tiara), the Marquess and Marchioness of Milford Haven (wearing the Milford Haven Ruby Kokoshnik), Lord and Lady Elphinstone (wearing the Lotus Tiara), Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten (in the Mountbatten Tiara and Emerald Necklace).

Foreign Royal Guests included Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway (wearing the Norwegian Emerald Parure), Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden (wearing the Braganza Tiara), Crown Princess Juliana (in the Dutch Sapphire Tiara) and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark (wearing the Pearl Poiré Parure), and Prince Regent Paul and and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (wearing the Greek Ruby Parure) who sat behind Royalty from the British Empire that included the Sultan of Johor, Sultan of Terengganu, the Amir of Transjordan, Sultan of Zanzibar, Yang Di-pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan, the Sultan of Pahang, and the Aga Khan and the Begum Aga Khan, alongside Maharajas from around India.

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Some Royal Guests were personally invited, including the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse (wearing the Hesse Emerald Tiara), Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla of Sweden (in the Swedish Cameo Parure), and Prince George and Princess Eugenie of Greece (wearing a Cartier Diamond Tiara), and sat in the Stand above the Royal Box. Other Official Royal Guests included Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Crown Prince Paul of Greece, Crown Prince Michael of Romania, Prince and Princess Chichibu of Japan, the Count of Flanders, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Grand Voevod of Alba Julia, the Prince of Preslav, Prince Mohammed Abdul Moneim of Egypt, Conte Grandi from Italy, Seif Al Islam Hussein of Yemen, Sirdar Shah Wali Khan of Afghanistan, Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Thailand, Dejazmatch Makonnen Endelkachew of Ethiopia, Sir Kaiser Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal, Ekrem Bey Libohova of Albania, Sayid Raouf Al Chadirji of Iraq, Prince Hassan Esfandiary of Iran, and Comte Henri de Maleville from Monaco.

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Despite the spectacular jewels, orders and uniforms in the Royal Box and associated stands around the Alter, the most spectacular sight would have been the Peers and Peeresses of the Realm, sat in their Crimson Robes trimmed with Ermine, dripping in massive family heirlooms, and an awe-taking sight as they rushed to don their coronets in time with the King and Queen. Present were almost the entire Aristocracy, which included the Dowager Duchess of Northumberland (wearing the Northumberland Clover Coronet), the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire (in the Devonshire Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland (wearing her Diamond Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough (in the Marlborough Boucheron Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Portland (wearing the Portland Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Rutland (wearing the Rutland Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk (wearing the Norfolk Tiara), the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley (wearing the French Crown Sapphire Parure), the Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry (in the Londonderry Tiara), the Marquess and Marchioness of Anglesey (wearing the Anglesey Tiara), the Marquess and Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava (in the Dufferin Tiara), the Earl and Countess of Bessborough (wearing the Bessborough Tiara), the Earl and Countess Spencer (wearing the Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara), and the Earl and Countess of Rosse (wearing the Rosse Emerald Tiara) among the entire British Aristocracy.

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