there s an awful lot of work that has to be done that nobody sees. the place has been cleaned. it s been re gilded. we then had a huge operation which has provided the build for the coronation theatre. there s been a big lighting rig, there are the sound engineers here, and then there are all the moving parts of the ceremony. people are going to see ceremony, they re going to see tradition, some extraordinary ceremonial dress. you re going to see the british doing pageant, and the british do pageants like nobody else. so what you will see, frankly, will be jaw dropping. the interesting question, i think, is whether you can dig under that and see that this is also deeply understood and that there s meaning in all this. there are sudden moments, particularly in rehearsal, when you realise you are right at the heart of british history, right here at the turning of a page.
this is something that s completely personal. i mean, the pageantry shows who they are, but this shows what they re like. and i think the music and the flowers show that they re. .. what lovely people they are. even the chairs being prepared for the service reflect that sense of sustainability, restored and adapted by specialist craftspeople. and they sit in the heart of westminster abbey. in 1953, the abbey was closed forfive months to prepare for the coronation. this time, they ve had to do it amidst much of their normal services. the abbey s been a hive of activity for two weeks. there s an awful lot of work that has to be done that nobody sees. the place has been cleaned. it s been re gilded.
cleaned, it has been re gilded, we then have had a huge operation which has provided the build for the coronation theatre, a big lighting ring, sound engineers here and then all of the moving part of the ceremony. people are going to see tradition, ceremony, some extraordinary ceremonial dress. you are going to see the british doing pageant and the british to pageant like nobody else. so what you will see, frankly, will be jaw dropping. the interesting question, i think, is whether you can dig under that and see that this is also deeply understood and that there is meaning in all of this. there are sudden moments, particularly in rehearsal, when you realise that you are right at the heart of british history, right here at the turning of the page, that is extraordinary experience, it s very moving.