Guests are arriving for a service at Westminster Abbey to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation.
Some who participated in the 1953 service will be in the 2000-strong congregation.
The Queen will be accompanied by more than 20 members of her family, including the Duke of Edinburgh.
Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip would be present despite pulling out of an engagement on Monday night because he was feeling unwell.
The heavy, solid gold St Edward's Crown will be on display on the High Altar - the first time it has left the Tower of London since the coronation.
Beside it will be the Ampulla, the gold, eagle shaped bottle from which the holy oil was poured for the Queen's anointing.
The Queen, whose reign began in 1952, practised wearing the crown around Buckingham Palace in the weeks before her Coronation, including at her children's bath time.
The coronation chair, one of the oldest pieces of English furniture still in use, will also be on show.
'Duty done'The Queen, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, will enter Westminster Abbey to the same music that greeted her in 1953.
Back then, aged 27, she was the 38th sovereign to be crowned in an abbey that has been conducting such ceremonies since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066.
Very Reverend John Hall, Dean of Westminster, told the BBC: "The service is going to be a great time of celebration, remembering that extraordinary event 60 years ago... I remember watching it when I was four in my grandparents' home.
There will be echoes of a past coronation in an ancient church that will, one day, witness another one.
For the Queen it will be a chance to reflect on a ceremony which she saw as a solemn religious act of dedication.
For others, it will be an opportunity to celebrate her achievements. This will not be a universal reaction. There are those who yearn for an elected rather than a hereditary head of state.
Inside the abbey, the Queen will be surrounded by her family, including those who represent the House of Windsor's future - Prince Charles, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. As things stand, her unborn child will one day have a crown placed on his or her head.
But before then, will come the reign of the child's 64-year-old grandfather.
The Queen's eldest son and heir has waited, but not, his supporters argue, wasted his time.
"But today, celebration, thanksgiving, 60 years of duty done with a glad heart. I think that's the wonderful thing, that duty and service is celebrated at this service today."
The dean will conduct the service, while the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby will give the address.
The weather 60 years ago was dull and wet, but warm sunshine greets those gathering in London for the anniversary.
The crowds outside the abbey will greet the Prince of Wales - who was just four in 1953 - and Duchess of Cornwall, as well as the Duke of Cambridge and the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.
It will be the first time the couple, whose first baby is due next month, have attended a public event at the abbey since they married there two years ago.
Other royals present will include Prince Harry, the Duke of York, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor, the Princess Royal and Zara Phillips with her husband Mike Tindall.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, will both give readings.
Actress Claire Skinner, from the BBC sitcom Outnumbered, will read a poem written for the anniversary by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Lady Glenconner was one of the Queen's six maids of honour in 1953.
She told the BBC: "I remember standing by the door... I remember a roar coming round, we could hear everybody shouting. Then suddenly around the corner came this amazing golden coach, it was like a fairy tale.
"She was so beautiful. When she got out of the coach, the tiny waist she had, the wonderful complexion, she just looked the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."
TV spectacleThe Coronation was a strictly Anglican Christian event, but 60 years later Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other faiths will be represented.
At the time the Coronation was a major television spectacle, with an estimated 27 million Britons tuning in.
Last year's Diamond Jubilee marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.
Prince Philip had been due to accompany the Queen to a gala reception for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) at St James's Palace in London on Monday.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The duke is unwell but he will be at the service [on Tuesday]."
No details of the duke's illness were available.
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04 Jun, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGiPe0usGSweYO9Q7UTb5Dbpg0XWA&url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22762878
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