Download - Royal Automobile Club

Club Diamond Jubilee
The Club is marking Her Majesty’s
Diamond Jubilee this year, and it is
good to remember that she was here
to help us celebrate our own
diamond jubilee back in 1957. The Queen has
made several official visits to the Club over the
last 60 years. They have been cause for much
celebration and, of course, much preparation
and behind the scenes planning at the Club,
whose royal title was granted by her great
grandfather, that keen automobilist King
Edward VII in 1907.
1953 CORONATION
The celebrations of 2 June 1953 required
months of careful planning. The Club had learnt
a couple of lessons from the rather chaotic 1937
Coronation; it was stipulated that bedrooms
were not to be booked more than three months
in advance and to be used only for sleeping and
not for watching the Coronation procession.
Waiting staff would only accept cash payments
for drinks that day owing to the fact that during
the 1937 festivities everyone got up hurriedly
and rushed to the stands to see Her Majesty
process down Pall Mall, leaving their bills
unpaid. This was, of course, the first coronation
to be broadcast on television. Members were
40 April 2012 | Issue 138
‘MEMBERS
COULD WATCH
ON SETS WITH
A TECHNICIAN
ON HAND IN
CASE OF A
BREAKDOWN’
able to watch the proceedings at Westminster
Abbey on 20 sets placed in the principal rooms
of the Clubhouse, with a technician on hand
throughout the day in case a breakdown should
occur. Stands of red and gold brocade were
erected along the facade of the Clubhouse for
members to watch the Coronation procession,
and admission to the Clubhouse was by ticket
only. The strict drinking laws of the time were
relaxed as the Commissioner of the Police of the
Metropolis granted the Club a late license on the
evening of 2 June so that the Coronation gala
dinner and ball extended from 11.00pm until
2.00am the following morning.
Meanwhile at Woodcote Park, the
Coronation was celebrated through a lasting
legacy; on the afternoon of Sunday 7 June 1953,
the Coronation Course was opened by Lord
Brabazon of Tara (Royal and Ancient Golf Club
Captain). He drove the first ball, which was
traditionally retrieved by a caddie, and then the
Chairman, Wilfrid Andrews, did the same.
1957 THE CLUB’S DIAMOND JUBILEE
On 18 March 1957, The Queen honoured the
Club with an official visit to mark the Club’s
Diamond Jubilee. She presented the Royal
LEFT: 1972,
The Queen, at the
Club’s 75th
Anniversary
OPPOSITE:
The Queen at the
Club’s diamond
jubilee, 1957
Automobile Club plaque to six surviving PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF THE ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB ARCHIVE