Lots of things seem to get described as ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences nowadays, but for many of us the coronation really will be just that. So, how to make the most of the historic long weekend?
Clock off from work at a reasonable time on Friday and while getting dressed into your glad rags pour yourself a glass of English sparkling wine. Nyetimber and Hattingley Valley both have appealing coronation edition cuvées. Have some friends over – as with Christmas or new year, I think the tantalising eve of the big day is always the most fun time for a party. Serve some nibbles, such as Tyrrells’s coronation chicken crisps, and a Jack Russell cake from the Waitrose coronation collection (at £24.99 their Leckford Estate Brut is also worth getting as a good-value English sparkling). If you’re invited round to someone else’s, endear yourself to the hosts by taking along something from Biscuiteers: their full, hand-iced coronation selection doesn’t come cheap but for £7.95 you can get a very jolly-looking King Charles gingerbread dressed in crown and ermine. Bargain.
On Saturday, their majesties will leave Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach and travel to Westminster Abbey via the Mall and Whitehall before the ceremony starts at 11 a.m. Before you settle down to watch at home, get the drinks prepped. There are classic choices – Pimm’s, or perhaps Dubonnet – but given coverage kicks off early, consider opting for the marmalade tang of a Breakfast Martini. As the ceremony ramps up, move on to a Glory and Majesty (a creation of that favourite royal hotel, The Goring). For a real showstopper, toast the crowning moment with a bottle, or even a magnum, of Ridgeview’s Blanc de Blancs 2016, which was served last year at the King’s first state banquet.
Before Saturday’s ceremony, get the drinks prepped. There are classic choices – Pimm’s, or perhaps Dubonnet – but given coverage kicks off early, consider opting for the marmalade tang of a Breakfast Martini
If you plan to head into the heart of the action, take a well-packed knapsack and a large Thermos filled with something that will keep you warm. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May and all that. When the formal ceremonials wrap up, Searcys at 116 Pall Mall is perfectly positioned just a short stagger away. They are putting on a range of coronation events including a special concert with the London Chamber Orchestra (tickets £30, 5.p.m start). You can also dine from their coronation menu which includes a Gloucester Old Spot pork pie with King’s ketchup, inspired by a Gloucester tradition of sending a pie to the monarch each Christmas.
Elsewhere, historic Wiltons – memorably once described by Quentin Crewe as where the aristocracy are served nursery food by waitresses dressed as nannies – have a celebratory seven-course coronation menu. Having received their first royal warrant in 1868 as purveyor of oysters to the royal household, there are few more fitting bastions of British dining, though it’ll cost you (£150 per head, excluding wine and service). Meanwhile at Claridge’s you may well run into foreign royalty or heads of state unwinding after the service. The hotel has a long reputation as ‘the royal hostelry’: for one coronation, extra flagpoles had to be added to the brickwork of the hotel to fly the flags of the many different royals in residence. At their new bar – The Painter’s Room – a special drinks menu reflects the King’s love for all things floral, botanical and sustainable. Even if you don’t plan to drink, it is worth stopping by to see their coronation Archive Windows (open throughout May in the ground floor lobby) featuring exhibits from coronations throughout the 200-year life of the hotel, including pages from Queen Victoria’s diary, and menus and cocktail cards from the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II.
On Sunday, the celebrations centre around the Big Coronation Lunch, i.e. street and garden parties. If you’re hosting a gathering, keep things simple. You will want to avoid the fate of César Ritz, at the helm of the Carlton Hotel in 1902 as it was preparing to mark the coronation of Edward VII, who suffered a nervous breakdown – apparently from the shock – when the event was postponed at short notice. Nor is it advisable to attempt Escoffier’s elaborate creation to mark the occasion: Poularde Eduoard VII (poached chicken stuffed with rice and served with curry sauce). Instead make the very achievable coronation quiche, alongside finger sandwiches, homemade Scotch eggs or eggs drumkilbo – a favourite of the King which he inherited from the Queen Mother.
For afters, you could use Queen Camilla’s recipe for Victoria sponge, scones or – for the classiest of petits fours – a pot of Fortnum’s tea and their organic chocolate crowns, one of the more affordable parts of their coronation range and, appropriately enough, made in Poundbury.
Monday – an extra bank holiday – has been dubbed the Big Help Out with people encouraged to get involved in volunteering activities in their local communities. More than six million are expected to take part. And at the end of the day, there’ll hopefully be time for a drink to round out the weekend. At £25,000 the new coronation whisky from Royal Salute may be outside of most budgets (though their Master Distiller told me that the 500 bottles made were already being snapped up by collectors). But pour yourself a glass of something or another and reflect on a truly historic weekend, while nibbling on the leftovers of that coronation quiche.
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