B efore a sea of thousands of people surrounding the Queen Victoria Memorial, the King and Queen were greeted with cheers and waves as they took centre stage on the Buckingham Palace balcony and presented the new-look monarchy to the world.
Their Majesties, still dressed in their lavish robes and crowns, stepped out for the grand finale of the day shortly before 2.30pm, met by shouts of: “Hip, hip, hooray!” and: “God save the King!” Beside them were both the King’s heirs and working members of the royal family, all in their coronation finery to take in the joyful atmosphere.
The Prince and Princess of Wales stood with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who performed his own windscreen-wiper royal wave, while his big brother, chatting to his fellow pages of honour, smiled and appeared to have relaxed after performing his official duties.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” the King asked his wife as they took in the moment.
Also enjoying the scene were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with Lady Louise and the Earl of Wessex, the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, along with the Queen’s grandsons, her sister Annabel Elliot and her good friend the Marchioness of Lansdowne, who all had roles in the ceremony.
Their appearance came slightly later than planned and cloudy skies and rain meant the military flypast, which should have involved more than 60 aircraft from the Royal Navy, army and Royal Air Force and lasted six minutes, had to be scaled back to two and a half minutes. Nevertheless, a frisson of excitement rippled through the crowd
