It was an occasion full of pomp and ceremony and a wonderous affair of its time, coming only 8 years after the end of the Second World War. Celebrations have included a rare TV interview about the ceremony and including the Regalia broadcast earlier this year. Her Majesty showed her pragmatic side with anecdotes on the day's events and her manhandling of the two major Crowns - St Edward's and the Imperial Sate - as one of only three who are officially allowed to do so without gloves on. (The other two are the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Crown Jeweller.)
The heraldic stars of the show were the Queen's Beasts. These were ten heraldic statues representing the genealogy of Her Majesty, depicted as Royal Supporters They stood in front of the temporary western annexe to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation. Each consists of an heraldic beast supporting a shield bearing a badge or arms of a family associated with the ancestry of The Queen. They were commissioned by the British Ministry of Works from sculptor James Woodford (who was paid the sum of £2,750 for the work) and were based on the King's Beasts which are at Hampton Court Palace - that king being King Henry VIII. They were uncoloured except for their shields at the coronation and were initially made of plaster.
- The Lion of England with the Arms of the United Kingdom. (Placed separately at the annexe entrance to the Abbey.)
- The White Greyhound of Richmond with a Tudor Rose, royally crowned.
- The Yale of Beaufort with the Beaufort Portcullis Badge of the Tudors.
- The Red Dragon of Wales with the Arms of Llywelyn.
- The White Horse of Hanover with the Arms of Great Britain (1714-1801).
- The White Lion of Mortimer with the Rose en Soleil Badge of York.
- The Unicorn of Scotland with the Royal Arms of Scotland.
- The Griffin of Edward III Badge of the House of Windsor.
- The Black Bull of Clarence with the Royal Arms of England (1399-1603).
- The Falcon of the Plantagenets with the Falcon and Fetterlock Badge of Edward IV.
In 1958, Sir Henry Ross, Chairman of the Distillers Company in Edinburgh, paid for Portland stone replicas of the statues, which are on display outside the Palm House at Kew Gardens, as shown below.