The coronation was held more than one year later because of the tradition of allowing an appropriate length of time to pass after a monarch dies. It also gave the planning committees adequate time to make preparations for the ceremony.
Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth realms and a commemorative medal was issued. It was the first British coronation to be fully televised; television cameras were not allowed inside the abbey during her parents' coronation in Elizabeth's was the fourth and final British coronation of the 20th century.
The one-day ceremony took 14 months of preparation: the first meeting of the Coronation Commission was in April , [ 4 ] under the chairmanship of the Queen's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Many physical preparations and decorations along the route were the responsibility of David Eccles , Minister of Works. The committees involved high commissioners from other Commonwealth realms, reflecting the international nature of the coronation; however, officials from other Commonwealth realms declined invitations to participate in the event because the governments of those countries considered the ceremony to be a religious rite unique to Britain.
Laurent said at the time: "In my view the Coronation is the official enthronement of the Sovereign as Sovereign of the UK. We are happy to attend and witness the Coronation of the Sovereign of the UK but we are not direct participants in that function. Invitations for the coronation were designed by the illustrator Joan Hassall ; [ 13 ] she had to use scraperboard to produce the final design as there was not enough time to produce a wood engraving for such a large and complex design.
