King Charles III Coronation Celebrations
Loughborough Schools Foundation hosted celebrations to mark the King’s coronation with fun activities taking place across all four schools and the nursery.
Fairfield Prep School enjoyed a full day of coronation celebrations which included a whole school assembly, a picnic lunch and coronation-themed class activities which involved each class producing work around a Commonwealth country, which was then shared at a special showcase. A typically British treat of strawberries and cream was enjoyed in the sunshine later in the day. Students also got creative, creating a giant human mosaic of a crown on the field.
Loughborough Amherst School hosted a celebration picnic at lunch and the whole school came together for a photograph in the formation of a crown and sang the National Anthem. Loughborough Nursery feasted on a delicious coronation tea party.
Loughborough High School celebrated with an assembly in the Parkin Sports Centre involving some inter-house competition and coronation bingo. The assembly was followed by a music-led rendition of the School Hymn to the theme tune of the muppets. The girls then got stuck into coronation-themed activities including Head Girl, Yla planting a tree in acknowledgement of the event.
Loughborough Grammar School marked the royal occasion with a special assembly, followed by King Charles III cupcakes in the quad, which boasted a patriotic backdrop with the tower decorated in red, white and blue bunting. The boarders also hosted the first ever Coronation Street Party on the Quad!
As part of the celebrations pupils from the CCF showed off their skills in teamwork and agility whilst performing the ‘Gun Run’ challenge, which involves dismantling a gun, transporting the pieces across a zip wire and reassembling it again – a skill they had recently displayed at the CCF Annual Review.
A day full of celebrations was enjoyed by all across the Foundation!
We also followed celebrations off campus, and on the day of the coronation we were delighted to see two LHS alumni take part in the official procession and celebrations.
Captain Amy Cooper (FFD 2002; LHS 2009), Second in Command, King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery had a prominent role on parade riding behind the Commanding Officer and her Trumpeter, on the right of the three officers. She was made a Member of the Victorian Order (MVO) for her role commanding the Gun Carriage for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to take the body of the late Queen Elizabeth II to Lie in State.
Stella Byrom (FFD 2014; LHS 2021) also took part in the coronation procession as part of the household division bands leading the household division and the golden state coach, with the newly crowned King and Queen, back to Buckingham Palace. She was marching and playing approximately 250 metres in front of the state coach! Stella plays the bassoon and has been studying at the Royal Military School of Music. Stella was also involved in marching troops to and from Waterloo station before and after the procession.
"Despite the rain and the 3am start, it was a really amazing experience especially after I had the opportunity to take part in the Queen's funeral. My favourite part of the day would have to be playing the National Anthem with the massed bands from all the Armed Forces in the Buckingham Palace garden and the three cheers for the King."
How did you celebrate the coronation?
We would love to see how our alumni community celebrated the day and share your memories and photos in the next edition of our alumni magazine, Beyond the Barrier. To send in your photos and memories please email the Alumni Team.