It felt, for many, like the beginning of a new era.
When the Queen ascended to the throne on 6 February 1952, it was widely portrayed as the start of a new dawn for Great Britain. In a country still scarred by the horrors of the Second World War, this 25-year-old monarch suggested a brighter future: the second Elizabethan Age.
Her official coronation 16 months later on 2 June 1953, was held in just this spirit.
