Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in the first televised coronation
On this day · 2 June 1953
Against her prime minister's advice, the young Queen let cameras into Westminster Abbey, and millions watched at home.
On June 2, 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in the first coronation ever broadcast on television. Over 7,000 guests packed the Abbey, but the truly novel audience was at home: an estimated 27 million people in the UK alone—out of a population of about 36 million—watched live, with millions more abroad.
The decision was contested. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others resisted letting cameras into the sacred ceremony, fearing it would cheapen the ritual. The Queen overruled them, insisting the moment be shared with her people.
27 million Britons watched the ceremony on television, and 11 million listened on the radio.
The gamble reshaped broadcasting. Many families bought their first television set just to watch, accelerating the medium’s spread across postwar Britain and turning a centuries-old rite into a shared national event.
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