Queen’s proclamation in 1952 was quite a different affair

The Guernsey Press covered the event in detail in February 1952.

One of the chief differences was that the States and Royal Court meetings were held in the chamber rather than St James, which at the time was still a place of worship.

But the chamber struggled to cope, with it being ‘completely filled’ with court officials, jurats, foreign consuls, clergy and gowned school head teachers, while States members were relegated to seats ‘nearby’. The public gallery was also filled.

The men wore black ties and the women black, while officers wore mourning bands on their sleeves. The only colour seen was the uniforms worn by the military men and Lt-Governor Sir Philip Neame, and the medals worn.

After the proclamation was read to the chamber, they could hear the Royal Salute outside and strains of the National Anthem.

St James was a slightly calmer affair at the weekend. Deputies sat on the stage with the Bailiff and Lt-Governor for the special States meeting, while there was plenty of room in the hall for court officials, jurats, advocates, clergy, parish deans and constables. A couple of dozen members of the public turned out to watch from the public balcony, but there were still plenty of chairs free.

For the special Royal Court sitting, at which Crown officials and politicians swore their allegiance to the Crown, there was again still plenty of room.

Dress among the audience was muted out of respect to the late Queen and some wore black armbands. But the bright sunlight through the former church’s stained glass windows brought colour to the room.

The venue also changed for the public proclamations. Sunday saw the parade march down Smith Street, with a good crowd watching on, to the seafront and the base of the Crown Pier. From there HM Sheriff Jason Savident read the proclamation to several thousand islanders. It gave people a fine view of the 21-gun salute at Castle Cornet after the proclamation was read at noon.

The parade in 1952 was slightly less orderly, with densely packed onlookers said to be ‘swarming’ the war memorial and packed in around the then-Insurance Authority headquarters at St Paul’s – what is now the sunken garden.

People hung out of the windows of advocates’ offices to watch, while others ‘at some peril to their persons’ perched on the roof of an office building at the junction between New Street and Lefebvre Street.

HM Sheriff H J Blampied read the proclamation on the steps of the Royal Court.

Despite the crowds, the Guernsey Press correspondent lamented that it lacked the pomp of previous years, as there were no cannon fired.

Then a parade formed up at the Town boundary in Smith Street. The Lt-Governor, Bailiff, Royal Court and States all paraded down Smith Street, the High Street and Commercial Arcade, with constables and douzeniers forming an escort.

They arrived at a packed Market Square, filled with people 11 deep. It was estimated there were 2,500 people in the square.

‘There was not a window that did not have its quota of expectant subjects, nor an accessible parapet that had not become a vantage point,’ the Press correspondent wrote.

As the parade arrived, they went up to the Market Square balcony and silence descended as the Town Church clock struck noon. Then an eight-strong bugle party sounded before Sheriff Blampied’s voice was heard reading the proclamation over the loudspeakers hung round the square.

The Guernsey Brass Band then played God Save the Queen and the Town Church bells were heard again.