IN this edition of nostalgia, we are looking back at how we celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in Cumbria.

In 1952, King George VI's health was poor, and illness forced him to abandon a proposed Commonwealth tour. Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, took his place..

On February 6 1952, she received the news of her father's death and her own accession to the throne while on an official visit to Kenya, the first country of the Commonwealth tour. 

Following the news, the tour was abandoned, and the young Princess flew back to Britain as Queen. She was greeted by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and other officials at the airport before returning to Clarence House, where the Royal Standard flag was flown for the first time in her reign.

On the eve of her Coronation, the day before she was to make her formal oath at Westminster Abbey, The Queen made a radio broadcast to the Commonwealth in which she pledged her devotion to its people.

The Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, conducted by Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Her Majesty was anointed by the Archbishop and took her oath to “maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine worship, discipline, and government thereof, as the law established in England.”

The ceremony was broadcast on radio around the world and, at The Queen's request, on television for the first time.

An estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the ceremony on television and 11 million listened on the radio (the population of Britain at the time was just over 36 million.)