Queen Elizabeth II (wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and the Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace), the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret danced with Officers of the Guard’s Regiments at a Ball hosted by the Household Brigade at Hampton Court Palace on this day in 1953, just days before the Queen’s Coronation. The Ball was described:
Outside Buckingham Palace, crowds started an early vigil in the hope the Queen would drive out on her way to a quiet weekend at Windsor Castle.
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret had danced until nearly dawn, then returned to the palace early this morning.
When the Royal Party was leaving Buckingham Palace last night, mounted police galloped up to keep the crowd back, but it took them several minutes to marshal the people off the road.
Nearly 1,600 guests waited at the gaily lit Hampton Court Palace to cheer the Queen and the Duke as they arrived for the Household Brigade Ball
Queen Elizabeth, radiant in a crinoline gown and diamond tiara, danced in the Hampton Court ball room where the ghost of one of the ancestors is said to walk. The palace was once the home of King Henry VIII.. who beheaded his fifth wife. Catherine Howard. Local folk say her ghost still haunts the building.
At Buckingham Palace, people in evening dress, girl hitchhikers with ruck sacks and early morning workers kept a vigil at the gate until the Royal party returned at dawn.
