Royal Opera Night: 'Gloriana' Premiere (1953) | British Pathé

[@HattieMcDanielonaMoon]

Such classy times back then

[@hannahdraper]

Yep

[@17461771]

@@hannahdraper Yeah, unlike that bench-alcoholic look among and that even Swedes +70?!

[@1940limited]

Amazing! I love it!

[@JM-lw3nx]

That look from Margaret!

[@robb2biago]

Everyone looks so elegant and classy. I’ve seen stills of this event, and now I know where they are from. Margaret in the Halo tiara and you can only imagine how beautiful her dress was, in color. And the Oriental Circlet, with the Burmese Ruby suite, on the Queen Mum. And of course the Queen, Looking stunning.

[@mercury2198]

RIP Queen Elizabeth II👑

[@quietyoutrash8150]

So glamorous

[@Danihogwda]

RIP Elizabeth II Regina 🌹🇬🇧

[@ritchyhonore6179]

Everyone is making their entrance and some in some grand manners, but the Queen enters very humbly, no sophisticated dress, a simple ermine cape, and tiara; so young, yet she is THE GUEST.

[@itoo3654]

A tiara of real gems is NEVER "simple". 🥴

[@alexandradane3672]

The Princess Royal today - Princess Anne , in looks , is astonishingly like her late aunt, the Princess Royal, Princess Mary ?

[@Stand663]

Ahh bring back royal splendour..

[@Suddenly-appears]

According to Britten's biographer Christopher Headington, the premiere of Gloriana was almost a failure. Few audience applauded at the final curtain, and Britten leaned over from the box, muttering "Clap, damn you, clap."

[@acacia-bloom]

I doubt politicians or royalty would be made to sit through an opera performance these days. I wonder what opera it was.

[@a96agli]

As it says in the description, Benjamin Britten's Gloriana. this was the world premiere, part of the coronation celebrations.

[@murrayaronson3753]

Not that far back UK Prime Minister John Major and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl would gladly have been at the opera as would Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani, LA DA Gil Garcetti. US Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia have been known to attend opera performances together.

[@sirstephen9825]

Is there going to be an opera written about King Charles I or II?

[@notnek202]

Sit through an opera ? Have you ever been to the opera? It’s an amazing experience. Try it you might like it.

[@margaretlavender9647]

It was Gloriana.😊

[@joed1162]

Amid all this splendour the UK was still on rationing. It finally ended in 1954. Forgive me if I find this display of wealth and privilege a little irksome. Rationing was still in place a whole 9 years after the end of WWII !

[@lsmith9249]

@joed1162 not all rationing was in place till 1954, some rationing ended sooner and rationing was for all the population and life started getting back to normal here in Britain as soon as possible after the war, not all events were for the wealthy, the ideal home exhibitions began again in 1947 and the festival of britain took place in 1951 and there were others

[@Stand663]

Rationing made the population healthier. We grew our own food.

[@hotoneinspai]

Wow...That's one serious collection of Royals...Prime Ministers and Presidents? Does anyone know...was this Prior to the Coronation?...or after it ?

[@chloe.3338]

Margaret 😍

[@gingerspice12]

Poor princess Margaret 😞

[@KingoftheRoad-2023]

why do you say poor-she looked as if she was jealous of the queen getting all the attention

[@gingerspice12]

@@KingoftheRoad-2023 I think left out is a better way of looking at it!

[@notnek202]

The woman had unimaginable wealth and power when most people had nothing why do you feel sorry for her?

[@gingerspice12]

@@notnek202 because she looks as though she’s being left out!

[@Dunsapie]

That is not Queen Salote.

[@charmainelamont2020]

@@michaelmontagu3979 It wasn't. That lady is too small to be Queen Salote who was 6ft 2in in her bare feet and weighed 20 stone. Besides which, Queen Salote was accompanied by her daughter in law Crown Princess Mata'aho (the late Queen Mother of Tonga) who would have been in the car with her.

[@michaelmontagu3979]

@@charmainelamont2020 Just watched it with my specs on. It wasn't. No idea who she was.

[@charmainelamont2020]

@@michaelmontagu3979 Neither have I, never seen her before.. Queen Salote would never have stepped out of a car without thanking the man who helped her out and she always had a big smile on her face. That woman didn't even crack the enamel.

[@anonymousr1918]

That’s what I thought, her face looks completely different.

[@janetdeepika360]

Mr.nehru and indira Gandhi were there my goodness

[@shaktiprasad3238]

Nehru is a part of this wow 😱

[@brianlawson363]

I see that someone is wearing the Cartier scroll tiara.

[@Roma-SRyan]

Anyone else think Philip and the Queens dad look very similar

[@richierich7229]

Well. They are related. Second cousins through Christian X of Denmark.

[@Twentythousandlps]

With such an audience of non opera goers, the Britten work of course had to be a flop.

[@kennethgarland4712]

This may well have been the first opera that the Queen had been to, and probably gave her her known dislike of opera. Indeed, 'Gloriana' was the first opera that I ever went to (no, it wasn't this performance!) and it left me cold, a chill that it took Rita Hunter singing Brünnhilde to defrost - and now I am completely sold on opera!

[@birgultuna6786]

Eğilen tarafta olmak istemezdim

[@timothyleon558]

Bunch of old ladies in crowns. Jeeze. That one getting out of the vehicle looked 150. I imagine there was a lot of posturing going on. I don’t guess they showed a cartoon 🤷🏽‍♂️