Remembering the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

On 2 June 1953 Queen Elizabeth II has been crowned at a coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey in London.
In front of more than 8,000 guests, including prime ministers and heads of state from around the Commonwealth, she took the Coronation Oath and is now bound to serve her people and to maintain the laws of God.

After being handed the four symbols of authority - the orb, the sceptre, the rod of mercy and the royal ring of sapphire and rubies - the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher, placed St Edward's Crown on her head to complete the ceremony.

A shout of "God Save the Queen" was heard and gun salutes were fired as crowds cheered.

The Archbishop and fellow bishops then paid homage to Queen Elizabeth II.

In a radio broadcast the Queen said: "Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust".

An estimated three million people lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the new monarch as she made her way to and from Buckingham Palace in the golden state coach.

The ceremony was watched by millions more around the world as the BBC set up their biggest ever outside broadcast to provide live coverage of the event on radio and television. Street parties were held throughout the UK as people crowded round television sets to watch the ceremony.

Fireworks

The crowds, some of whom had camped out overnight to ensure a prime position, were rewarded when the Queen and other members of her family, including the Queen Mother, appeared on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Despite the overcast weather conditions the RAF marked the occasion with a fly past down the Mall.

A fireworks display then lit up the skies above Victoria Embankment.

The Queen replaced her father, King George VI, as monarch following his death on 6 February 1952. After 16 years on the throne he passed away in his sleep and his 25-year-old daughter Elizabeth immediately became Queen.

The princess formally proclaimed herself Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith in February 1952 but the amount of planning and a wish for a sunny day for the occasion led to the long but excited wait for this day.

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries are produced by BBC based on the novels by Elizabeth George. Nathaniel Parker plays Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sharon Small plays his partner, Sergeant Havers. There have so far been twenty-one filmed mysteries featuring Inspector Lynley.

Latest News
In season 1, the BBC produced and aired 4 episodes of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. The pilot to this first season was A Great Deliverance. Up to now a fifth series had been airing in midsummer 2006. More had been shot from October 2006. The sixth series is about to premiere in Australia on June 9th, 2007. No air-dates for these new episodes have been announced for the UK so far.

Series Summary
The series is set in modern-day England and are very much in the P.D. James British tradition. Lynley is a blue-blooded Scotland Yard Inspector. Besides being a detective, he's also the eighth Earl of Asherton, driving a vintage car - a Bristol 410. The number of Bristol 410s were built is 79. They're rarer than 007's Aston Martin DB5, of which there were 1.021. His sergeant, Barbara Havers, is an unattractive 30-year-old woman from a troubled home on the wrong side of the tracks and she can't stand being assigned to work with Lynley. Over the course of the series they gain a grudging respect for each other.

Nathaniel Parker was born in London, England on May 18, 1962. He is the youngest child of the late Sir Peter Parker, a former chairman of British Rail and retired GP, Lady Jill Parker.

His Eminence Cardinal Pio Laghi Patron of ICOC

On 9th February 2007 His Eminence Cardinal Pio Laghi, Patron Cardinal of Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education (association of seminars and educational institutes) has accepted to become Patron of International Commission for Orders of Chivalry, His Eminence has pronounced words of appreciation for the seriousness of the scientific work of the ICOC.

Authority and Status of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry
The International Commission was established at the V Congress of Genealogy and Heraldry at its meeting in Stockholm in August 1960, with instructions to report to the VI International Congress to be held at Edinburgh in September 1962.

At that Congress the Commission made its report on the principles involved in assessing the validity of Orders of Chivalry and these were accepted by the Congress. In addition, on the motion of M. Paul Adam of Paris, it was unanimously agreed in plenary session of the Congress that the International Commission (composed of high personalities of the Congress, and leading experts in the field of chivalry, nobiliary and heraldic law) should become a permanent autonomous body in the following terms:

“After having rendered homage for the work of the Commission on Orders of Chivalry, and to its president, Baron Monti della Corte, the Congress considered it proper that it should have an autonomous status and that it should continue its activities in a permanent form, in order to apply the principles developed in its report presented to the Congress.”

In pursuance of these instructions and authority the International Commission hereby publishes the findings of its deliberations during the period 1960-2001 [1]. Further reports will be issued from time to time as and when considered necessary.

The Seat of the International Commissionis at Piazza Caiazzo, Milano, Italy.

The Secretariat of the International Commission is at Via Baronio, Serravalle, Republic of Saint Marino.