The Kings Coronation

This is a special edition for a number of reasons mainly being the subject, the Coronation on Saturday of our King apart from being our 1,038th post here reflecting what interests me as much as what personally I am about.

It was very much His day as it was his destiny born to be King,  and like his mother to have a centuries old coronation service but one where leaders of other faiths, a cross section of people by ethnic and other diversity that reflect modern Britain were in attendance, taking part.

These things usually take some planning such as the route to be taken, the nature of the procession and facilities for people who  have come to see it apart from security.

The Stage Coach wasn't used this time but a more modern much more comfortable one 

Westminster Abbey was the ultimate destination for the service and ceremony and here page boys assist keeping the train of his robe straight.

The Page Boys at ease.

A Coronation massed choir with members of boys, girls and women's choirs performed so very well.

After the service with the annotating and crowning of Charles our King but the crowning of Camilla our Queen,  they made there way back to Buckingham Palace where they went on to the balcony to wave to the public

Serving royals and children also joined as here they are looking at the fly past.

Sadly because of the rainfall the full flypast wasn't possible but a foreshortened one featuring the Red Arrows was possible as shown here.

It was a lovely service, well executed.

Signs of a new era

This week I'm looking at something a bit different, nay something we didn't anticipate a month back.

As we settle into a new reign some of the new symbols we will encounter along that way are emerging not that all the previous ones will just go.

Firstly, the new Royal Cypher has been designed and approved looking rather like this, C for Charles, our King, R for Rex, Latin for ruler and III the roman numerals for Third, traditional with just a hint of contempary in the font.

That is likely to feature on things such as any new Post Boxes commissioned or replacement to damaged ones.

There are a good number of older Post Boxes about going back to the reign of George VI and before in our Towns and Villages.

It was announced a set of commemorative stamps would be issued by the Post Office marking the passing of our late Queen of some seventy years service.

This is something that my long departed school soul mate, very much missed, and I would of been delighted with as avid stamp collectors back then buying the stamps to mount and getting First Day Issue Covers franked addressed to us.

We did everything together.

A new reign brings over time new coinage and new cins will be issued starting on the left with a Fifty Pence piece with now familiar smaller design rather tha the original we had from 1968 until a couple of decades ago where the many of the original coins were redesigned.

The one on the right will be a special commemorative£5 design rather than the polymer backed note we are familiar with

The reverse shows the new relief of our King, approved by him for new coins and notes to issued as needed, previous notes showing The Queen will remain legal tender.

Dad and my Grandad did collect coins several decades back.