It’s June 1953 and two children from Dorset – John (Colin Gibson) and Julie (Lesley Dudley) – are eager to see the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in spite of the fact that their respective parents have no intention of going.
The children decide to go to London themselves and find John’s Uncle Ben (Andrew Cruickshank), who apparently “knows the Queen”.
Without a plan or any money, they journey 150 miles by horseback, bicycle, train and car through some of the most beautiful English countryside imaginable and along their way, they encounter different quirky and eccentric people who help them in their quest to see the Royal occasion.
A genuinely, lovely film that takes us back to a much simpler age – now long gone – and enables us to enjoy a wonderful family adventure – punctuated throughout by a hauntingly beautiful theme played on (and by) the Golden Trumpet by Eddie Calvert. It is also a fascinating snapshot of British history, detailing the fun and excitement of the coronation in a county that only eight years earlier had seen the end of the Second World War.
Made at Beaconsfield Studios, the director cleverly uses actual footage of the coronation and as such, The Queen, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Phillip “appear”.
John Pritchett
Colin Gibson
Julie
Lesley Dudley
Miss Stokes
Noelle Middleton
Dora
Moira Lister
Sir James
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Mr Pritchett
Sidney James
Mrs Pritchett
Megs Jenkins
Judge Davidson
Joseph Tomelty
Mrs Davidson
Constance Cummings
Jim Webber
Patric Doonan
Uncle Ben
Andrew Cruickshank
Mr Swayne
Colin Gordon
Mrs Swayne
Winifred Shotter
Jeremy
Peter Jones
PC Diamond
Peter Sellers
Director
William Fairchild
