11.16 Procession of His Majesty the King and Her Royal Highness the Bride leaves Buckingham Palace.

11.30 THE SERVICE

12.30 Departure of the Bride and Bridegroom from Westminster Abbey, and the return processions to Buckingham Palace.

COMMENTATORS:

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (inside the Abbey)

Richard Dimbleby (outside the West Door of the Abbey)

Peter Scott (on the roof of St. Margaret’s, Westminster)

Audrey Russell (near Admiralty Arch)

Frank Gillard (outside Buckingham Palace)

It is hoped to interrupt programmes during the afternoon for a description of the departure of the Bride and Bridegroom for their honeymoon.

THE WEDDING SERVICE:

Fanfare (Bax)

During the Procession of the Bride:

Hymn: Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven (Goss) Introduction read by the Dean

Solemnisation of the Marriage by the Archbishop of Canterbury Psalm 67 (Bairstow)

Lesser Litany, the Lord’s Prayer, and Responses taken by the Precentor

Prayers and Blessing by the Dean

Motet: We wait for thy loving kindness, O God (McKie)

Address by the Archbishop of York

Hymn: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Crimond)

Final Prayer and Benediction by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Amen (Orlando Gibbons)

Fanfare (Bax)

The National Anthem

During the signing of the Register:

Anthem: Blessed by the God and Father (S. S. Wesley)

Fanfare (Bax)

Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

Fifty-five BBC microphones enabled listeners throughout the world to share in the excitement. Broadcasters along the route and outside the abbey told of the arrival of guests and from his position on the Victoria Memorial, Frank Gillard described the bride leaving her home with her father the King. Further down the Mall, Audrey Russell, who was positioned on the roof of the Admiralty Citadel, took over from Gillard. Then, while the Irish State Coach, with Princess Elizabeth inside, passed on its way down the full length of Whitehall, the programme switched to the inside of the abbey for Wynford Vaughan-Thomas’s impression of the scene. As Vaughan-Thomas finished his description, Peter Scott took over from the roof of St Margaret’s Church. He announced the bride’s arrival in Parliament Square and a moment or two later renowned commentator Richard Dimbleby described the scene as the State Coach drew up to the West Door of the abbey.

Out of sight of all the movement in the abbey, the engineer in charge of the broadcast sat at his control panel. On it was marked some twenty-six microphone circuits and he had to decide when to change one circuit for another and when to blend, say, the abbey bells with the sound of crowds cheering as Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Mountbatten left the abbey.