Sunday, June 3, 2012

Object of the Day: A Souvenir of the Coronation of King George V



I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne. 

--King George V





I recently acquired this handsome, but, curious souvenir from the 1911 coronation of King George V. Oddly enough, this pennant was not made in the U.K., but according to the text on the reverse was made in Boyerton, Pennsylvania. I’m not quite sure why. 


The pennant is machine sewn of red, white and blue felt which has been adorned with glittered gold paint and an applied photograph roundel of His Majesty King George V. The date of George’s coronation, June 22, 1911, is emblazoned on the bottom of the front.

I thought this was a fitting “Object of the Day” as we begin the Central Weekend of the festivities of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee (June 2-5) in honor of her sixty years on the thrones of the Empire. Her Majesty was the favorite grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. She referred to her paternal grandfather as “Grandfather England,” and the King—until his death in 1936—was concerned that the accession of his eldest son, “David,” the Prince of Wales (later, briefly, King Edward VIII, and, later still the Duke of Windsor—to me “The Great Kerfuffler” ™) would prevent “Lilibet,” as he called his eldest granddaughter, from one day becoming Queen. Thanks, however, to the abdication, Princess Elizabeth ascended as Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father, “Bertie,” King George VI, in 1952 (coronation on June 2, 1953). In the end, King George V and Queen Mary got their wish—their granddaughter was Queen, and remains so to this day. 






If you’re as much of a Royal history buff as I, or, if you would like to join the world in commemorating Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, I’d like to suggest that you visit our online store and browse the host of Diamond Jubilee items available there amongst a wealth of other fun Royal stuff.


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