Published: 01 May 2023
During her time as a trainee nurse on our former Hyde Park Corner campus, St George’s alumna, Elona Rogers, received an invitation to watch the coronation procession of Queen Elizabeth II.
70 years later, as we approach the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III – the third Coronation Elona has experienced in her lifetime – she reflects on how it felt to be a part of the day.
A message from Dame Muriel Powell
What better place to watch the Coronation Procession of Queen Elizabeth II than Hyde Park Corner?
I was a student nurse on night duty: A three-month period of shifts of twelve-hours. 8pm to 8am, for ten nights, followed by four nights off.
Reporting off-duty to the night sister on the Marie Tempest private ward, on the morning of Tuesday 2nd June 1953, I was handed a note – a message from Matron Powell:
“I appreciate you are now off night duty, but if you are willing to remain in uniform and accompany a patient of yours on the private ward, you can have a Special Pass to sit outside with her to watch the Queen’s Procession go around Hyde Park Corner.”
It was a real privilege to receive this invitation – one that I was more than happy to accept!
"It felt ethereal to find myself experiencing this prestigious event."
- Elona Rogers (St George's Nursing alumna) -
I took my patient to her Ward as requested and then made my way over to the procession among throngs of people. It rained non-stop, but the magnificence of the procession, walking to the palace and watching the Royal Family come out onto the balcony was an amazing, out-of-this-world experience.
Later, while watching the fireworks from London Bridge and seeing them reflected in the Thames, it felt ethereal to find myself – a lass from rural Yorkshire – at Hyde Park Corner, experiencing this prestigious event.