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118-661: The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, is a historic five-star hotel located in the Knightsbridge area of London, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group . The Edwardian-style building opened in 1889 as apartments and was converted to a hotel in 1902. Hyde Park Court was constructed by businessman Jabez Balfour and his associate, South London builder James William Hobbs, as an exclusive apartment block. It included 138 flats and

236-478: A "worthless" movie. Roger Ebert occasionally gave zero stars to films he deemed "artistically inept and morally repugnant." Scheuer's guide calls "one and a half star" films "poor", and "one star" films "bad". Not all film critics have approved of star ratings. Film scholar Robin Wood wondered if Sight and Sound readers accepted "such blackening of their characters." Jay Scott of Canada's The Globe and Mail

354-529: A game or stage's difficulty (such as in the SNES version of Street Fighter II and its updates), or to rate the attributes of a selectable character or, in sports games , a team. Restaurant guides and reviewers often use stars in restaurant ratings . The Michelin system reserves star for exceptional restaurants, and gives up to three; the vast majority of recommended restaurants have no star at all. Other guides now use up to four or five stars, with one-star being

472-455: A largely conservative affair and closely followed the ceremonial of George V's coronation in 1911. The ceremony began with the anointing of the King, symbolising his spiritual entry into kingship, and then his crowning and enthronement, representing his assumption of temporal powers and responsibilities. The peers of the realm then paid homage to the King before a shorter and simpler ceremony

590-457: A mob of overworked employees so pitifully huddled together in an ill-ventilated factory as are the Asterisks in this Sweatshop of Twaddle." Literary editor Katrina Kenison dismisses O'Brien's grading systems as "excessive at best, fussy and arbitrary at worst." Book reviewers generally do not use a star-rating system though there are exceptions. The West Coast Review of Books rates books on

708-457: A number of hitches, described above, the coronation ran relatively smoothly. It has been somewhat overshadowed in history by the larger Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953; the Abbey's sacrist, Jocelyn Perkins, said that the 1953 event was "out and away the most impressive" of the 1953, 1937 and 1911 coronations. Nonetheless, a number of those present, the King included, commented privately on

826-545: A preliminary to the coronation, guests from across the Empire and around the world assembled at Buckingham Palace and official receptions were held to welcome them; among those attending were Indian princes and, for the first time, native African royalty. For the event itself, the prime ministers of almost every Dominion took part in the procession to the abbey, while representatives of nearly every country attended. Contingents from most colonies and each Dominion participated in

944-633: A private gentleman's club, the Hyde Park Club. Construction began in February 1888 and portions of the building opened for residents in 1889. Design work was begun by architects Thomas Archer and Arthur Green, but they broke up their partnership in 1889, and work was completed by Archer and his new partner, Francis Hooper. Hyde Park Court was among the tallest buildings in London, and its construction proved controversial, with fears that it would cast

1062-412: A purely mathematical basis, 2 1/2 stars would be the dividing line between good and bad on a 0–5 scale. Common Sense Media uses a scale of one to five, where 3 stars are "Just fine; solid" and anything lower is "Disappointing" at best. There is no agreement on what the lowest rating should be. Some critics make "one star" or a "half-star" their lowest rating. Dave Kehr believes that "one star" indicates

1180-572: A rating. Star ratings are also given out at stand-up comedy performances and theatre productions. Star ratings are given at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe , the largest arts festival in the world. Since 2010, the British Comedy Guide has collected over 4,300 reviews of around 1,110 different acts, across 83 different publications in the form of a star rating. The use of star ratings is controversial because

1298-543: A remnant of Edward VIII's modernising attitude, it was now an art-deco design, adorned with stylised heraldic beasts and tapestries belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch . For each coronation, special seating was also constructed to accommodate the large number of guests; 1937 was the first year to make use of metal structures to support the seats, in the form of tubular steel. Four hundred tons were used alongside 72,000 cubic feet (2,000 cubic metres) of wood, with 400 men working on

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1416-555: A scale of one ("poor") to five ("superior") stars. According to editor D. David Dreis, readers love the ratings but publishers don't. In the 31 July 1928 issue of the New York Daily News , the newspaper's film critic Irene Thirer began grading movies on a scale of zero to three stars. Three stars meant 'excellent,' two 'good,' and one star meant 'mediocre.' And no stars at all 'means the picture's right bad,'" wrote Thirer. Carl Bialik speculates that this may have been

1534-543: A shadow on The Serpentine lake in Hyde Park. In 1892, Balfour's company, the Liberator Building Society, suffered a disastrous financial collapse, known as "Black September", which also brought down Hobbs & Company and resulted in the two men being imprisoned for deceiving their investors. Hyde Park Court, partly occupied but still unfinished, was taken over by receivers and completed. In 1898,

1652-488: A star rating to rank the safety of transportation. EuroRAP have developed a Road Protection Score which is a scale for Star Rating roads for how well they protect the user from death or disabling injury when a crash occurs. The assessment evaluates the safety that is 'built into' the road through its design, in combination with the way traffic is managed on it. The RPS protocol has also been adapted and used by AusRAP, usRAP and iRAP. Euro NCAP awards 'star ratings' based on

1770-466: A star rating, with a bullet reserved for movies that the magazine didn't like." The highest rating any film earned was five stars. The British film magazine Sight and Sound also rated films on a scale of one to four stars. Some critics use a "half-star" option in between basic star ratings. Leonard Maltin goes one further and gives Naked Gun 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 : The Final Insult a 2 + 1 ⁄ 3 star rating. Critics do not agree on what

1888-501: The Baedeker Guides (starting in 1844) borrowed this system, using stars instead of exclamation points, first for points of interest and later for hotels. The Michelin restaurant guide introduced a star as a restaurant rating in 1926, which was expanded to a system of one to three stars in 1931. In 1915, Edward O'Brien began editing The Best American Short Stories . This annual compiled O'Brien's personal selection of

2006-552: The Daily Mail said: "When the King and Queen appeared the picture was so vivid that one felt that this magical television is going to be one of the greatest of all modern inventions." The coronation service of George VI was the first to be filmed; the 40 camera crew inside the Abbey were required to wear evening dress . It was later shown in edited form as a newsreel in cinemas across the British Empire . The service

2124-782: The Ampulla , which had been poured onto the Anointing Spoon . In preparation for his crowning, the King, still on St Edward's Chair, was invested with the two coronation robes, the Colobium Sindonis and the Supertunica by the Dean of Westminster. Next, he was invested with the regalia, each of which symbolised his progress to kingship. First, the Lord Great Chamberlain touched the King's heels with

2242-658: The Gold State Coach from Buckingham Palace at 10:43; their procession was by far the longest and included numerous military contingents and delegates from Britain, the Dominions, and the colonies, as well as members of the War Office , the Army, Naval and Air Boards and the personal aides-de-camp. The first to arrive in procession were the royalty and foreign representatives; they arrived ten minutes after departing

2360-872: The Golden Spurs ; the Great Sword of State was deposited in St Edward's Chapel and the Jewelled Sword of Offering was passed to the King by the Archbishops and Bishops, who said "With this sword do justice"; the King then offered this sword at the altar. Seated again, the Lord Great Chamberlain fastened the Armills and the Dean invested the King with the Robe Royal ; the Archbishop passed him

2478-698: The Lord Great Chamberlain ; the items were then handed over to individual peers, who are listed below. Led by two officers of arms—the Rouge Croix Pursuivant and the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant —and two Gentleman Ushers (Rear-Admiral Arthur Bromley and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry De Satgé), the senior members of the Royal Family arrived at 10:15 and formed their procession into the abbey. The Princess Royal

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2596-601: The Queen Consort's Ring , and then crowned her, at which point the Princesses and peeresses donned their coronets. She was then handed the Queen Consort's Sceptre with Cross and the Queen Consort's Ivory Rod with Dove , before walking over to her own throne beside the King, where she sat. The Offertory followed, in which the King and Queen offered their regalia on the Altar. They then received Holy Communion from

2714-619: The Queen of Norway and Queen Mary arrived, being received by the Earl Marshal. Their procession took a different form to that of other members. The York and Windsor Heralds led, followed by G.A. Ponsonby (Comptroller of Queen Maud's Household) and then the Queen of Norway, attended by Miss von Hanno and followed by the Richmond and Chester Heralds . Then, Queen Mary's Lord Chamberlain (

2832-583: The Sovereign's Orb , put the Sovereign's Ring on his fourth finger and handed to him the two sceptres— with the cross (for Royal power) and with the dove (for "mercy and equity"). The Earl of Lincoln , as Deputy of the Lord of the Manor of Worksop , then handed over a glove , which the King wore. Once adorned with his regalia and seated in St Edward's Chair, King George was crowned with St Edward's Crown by

2950-418: The litany was sung during the regalia procession before the start of the service, and the sermon was omitted entirely. Even so, the service itself lasted for two and a half hours, excluding the preliminary processions. The first part of the service was the recognition, where the Archbishop of Canterbury called for those present to proclaim their recognition of the sovereign as their rightful king. The King

3068-651: The "death doughnut". Roger Ebert used a thumbs-down symbol. Other critics use a black dot . Critics also do not agree on what the lower ratings signify, let alone the lowest rating. While Maltin's and Scheuer's guides respectively explain that lowest rated films are "BOMB(s)" and "abysmal", British film critic Leslie Halliwell instead writes that no star "indicates a totally routine production or worse; such films may be watchable but are at least equally missable." Like Halliwell and Dave Kehr, film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum believes one-star films have some merit, however unlike Halliwell, Rosenbaum believes that no stars indicate

3186-638: The Archbishop and were passed their crowns before returning to their thrones where they were also given their sceptres back. Te Deum was sung by the choir. A recess followed, during which the King and Queen proceeded to St Edward's Chapel. There, the King delivered the Sceptre with the Dove to the Archbishop who laid it on the altar. The bearers of the Orb, the Golden Spurs and St Edward's Staff delivered these to

3304-459: The Archbishop of Canterbury and the people in the abbey proclaimed loudly "God save the King"; the peers and peeresses wore their coronets (the only time that this happens) and the guns in the Royal Parks were fired to mark the crowning. The ceremony appeared to run smoothly, although there were a few inconspicuous mishaps: the Archbishop of Canterbury almost placed the crown on the King's head

3422-583: The BBC and Honorary Chaplain to the King , read out the rubrics or written directions from the service book from a seat high in the triforium over Saint Edward 's Chapel. During the most sacred parts of the service, the consecration and the Holy Communion , the microphones were turned off and listeners heard hymns being sung by the choir in the Church of St Margaret, Westminster . The ability to project

3540-670: The British press, but was receiving considerable media attention in the United States; it was controversial due to her being divorced with her previous spouse still living, a status considered incompatible with the King's position as the nominal head of the Church of England , which did not at that time permit remarriage after divorce if the previous spouse was still living. In October 1936 Simpson filed for divorce (which, when final, would result in two previous spouses still living), and

3658-502: The Chairs of State in front of the royal box. As the King and Queen and the procession proceeded, the choir sang I was glad with the traditional acclamations of Vivat Regina Elizabetha and Vivat Rex Georgius by the King's Scholars of Westminster School . The coronation service itself began once the procession into the abbey was over and the King and Queen were seated. Beginning with

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3776-749: The Colonies of Southern Rhodesia , Kenya , Uganda , Tanganyika , Nyasaland , the Gambia , the Gold Coast , Sierra Leone , Somalia , Aden , Transjordan , Malta , the West Indies , British Guiana , Honduras , Ceylon , the Falklands and Hong Kong . In total there were 32,500 officers and men either marching or lining the route. Overall, the procession was 2.0 miles (3.2 km) in length and took 40 minutes to pass any given point. The route of

3894-585: The Dean of Westminster, who laid them on the altar in the chapel. The King was disrobed of his Royal Robe of State by the Lord Great Chamberlain and put on the Robe of Estate. The King, now wearing the Imperial State Crown , was then given the Orb by the Archbishop. While the King and Queen were in the chapel, the Officers of Arms arranged the procession out of the abbey, which was similar in form to

4012-656: The Dominions and the United Kingdom, the actual service and coronation rite needed to be updated to reflect this change in political power within the Empire, which itself was beginning to be known as the Commonwealth . Furthermore, the fact that the service was an Anglican rite excluded other faiths and denominations; in 1937, several Dominions had premiers who were Catholic and, by that time, laws which previously excluded people from public office on religious grounds had been repealed. The Coronation Committee altered

4130-463: The Empire, and by numerous unofficial celebrations, including street parties and the production of memorabilia. The event was designed to be not only a sacred anointing and formal crowning, but also a public spectacle, which was also planned as a display of the British Empire. May 1937 included a programme of royal events lasting nearly the entire month to commemorate and mark the occasion. As

4248-796: The Empire. There were representative detachments from all the elements of the British armed forces and the reserve forces , the British Indian Army and Royal Indian Navy , contingents from the British Dominions and a contingent representing the defence forces of the Colonial Empire. Contingents taking part represented the following sections of the Empire: India , the dominions of Canada , Australia , New Zealand , Burma , Newfoundland and South Africa , and

4366-696: The King and Queen as guests of honour, and the Balaclava Ball, hosted by the five cavalry regiments who had taken part in the Balaclava charge , also attended by Elizabeth II , Prince Philip , and the Queen Mother . Other celebrations include the 1992 production of " Pavarotti in the Park", one of the country's largest open-air concerts, the 1995 Anniversary of VE Day in which seven Heads of State and their delegations took up residence, and Party in

4484-666: The King informed the Prime Minister , Stanley Baldwin , that he intended to marry her. Baldwin and several leading imperial administrators advised the King that popular opinion in the dominions was hostile to the proposed marriage; at home, the King also faced opposition from the Church of England and from factions in Parliament . The widespread unwillingness to accept Simpson as the King's consort, and Edward's refusal to give her up, led to his abdication in December 1936. He

4602-440: The King's improvement and Logue remained his therapist. As it happened, the King delivered his speech without stuttering. The coronation cost £454,000, which was more than three times the cost of the 1911 ceremony. This cost included the construction of the annexe, which was built as a temporary add-on at the entrance of the abbey for each coronation. In previous years, it had taken the form of an imitation Gothic entrance, but, as

4720-786: The King; the Archbishop of York did so next, followed by each of the Bishops. The Dukes of the Blood Royal then did homage, followed by the Lords Temporal (Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Barons); six anthems were sung by the Choir during the homage: "O come ye servants of the Lord", " Hear my prayer, O Lord ", "O clap your hands together, all ye people", "All the ends of the world shall remember themselves", "O praise God in His holiness" and "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace". The Queen

4838-681: The Marquess of Anglesey ) led Queen Mary, whose train was borne by four pages (the Earl of Dalkeith, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Gerald Lascelles, and Viscount Errington) and who was attended by the Mistress of the Robes (the Duchess of Devonshire), two ladies of the bedchamber in waiting, her private secretary, comptroller, and three equerries (two ordinary and one extra). A guard of honour had formed at

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4956-721: The North side of the Area, or Sacrarium, the Lords Temporal in the South Transept, and the Dowager Peeresses and Peeresses in the North Transept." Before the coronation ceremony begins, there is traditionally a lengthy procession to the abbey. The procession left Buckingham Palace and headed up The Mall , though Admiralty Arch , and down Whitehall , before entering Westminster Abbey. The first to take part in

5074-423: The Park , one of Europe's largest music events. The hotel hosted the 80th birthday party of Margaret Thatcher which was attended by Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, along with former Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair , former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party Jeffrey Archer and entertainers Shirley Bassey and Joan Collins among others. The interiors of the restaurants and bar were created by

5192-527: The Princes and Princesses, and then Queen Mary arrived, respectively. Choral works included the traditional plainsong Veni, Creator Spiritus , William Byrd 's Creed and Sanctus , Christopher Tye 's O Come ye Servants of the Lord , Henry Purcell 's Hear My Prayer , Samuel Sebastian Wesley 's Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace , Sir George Dyson 's O Praise God in His holiness , Sir Edward Bairstow 's Let My Prayer Come Up into Thy Presence and Dr William Henry Harris 's Offertorium . Despite

5310-483: The Royal Household and the Diplomatic Corps. Led in by the Rouge Croix Pursuivant (P.W. Kerr) and the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant ( E.N. Geijer ); they were escorted to their seats in the choir. Following tradition dating back to the reign of King Charles II , the regalia were brought to the Deanery of Westminster the night before the coronation. Staff started working at 4 a.m., while guests began arriving two hours later. The Imperial State Crown had been remade for

5428-477: The abdication of Edward VIII, the coronation committee continued to plan the event for George VI with minimal disruption; according to Sir Roy Strong , at the next meeting after the abdication "no reference was made at all to the change of sovereign, everything immediately being assumed to have been done for the new king." After the abdication, though, many of the traditional elements that Edward VIII cared less for were restored, with Queen Mary taking an interest in

5546-413: The beginning of the anointing of the monarch, when the Archbishop of Canterbury marks the monarch's head with oil to symbolise the introduction of the Holy Spirit. The Choir sang Handel 's Zadok the Priest and the Archbishop prayed, before the King was disrobed and sat in St Edward's Chair, with the Canopy borne by four knights of the Garter placed over him. The Archbishop then anointed him with oil from

5664-453: The building was sold out of receivership to Herbert Bennett, one of the directors of Harrods . A fire damaged the top three floors in 1899. Bennett closed the Hyde Park Club in December 1901 and converted the building to a hotel over the following months. César Ritz served as a consultant for the conversion, with design work done by his favored architects, Charles Mewès and partner Arthur Joseph Davis , who continued to oversee renovations at

5782-480: The ceremony was organised by a Coronation Committee, established by the Privy Council and chaired by the Lord President of the Council , a political appointment; its central component, the Executive Committee, was chaired by the Duke of Norfolk , who inherited the office of Earl Marshal , which carries with it, by convention, the responsibility for the organisation and coordination of the coronation ceremony. The Coronation Committee had been delayed when it met for

5900-437: The committees. Edward VIII had initially been reluctant to have a coronation at all (asking the Archbishop of Canterbury whether it could be dispensed with), but conceded that a shorter service would be acceptable; his desire for a lower-key event led to the planned abandonment of the royal procession through London the following day, the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral and the dinner with London dignitaries. After

6018-471: The construction. The theatre (the area in the transept for the first part of the ceremony) and sacrarium (the space in front of the high altar) were at floor level for the first time since the Restoration , having traditionally been raised on a platform. In 1911, standards of the Dominions —autonomous communities of the British Empire—were borne during the procession. But, after the 1931 Statute of Westminster , which established legislative equality between

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6136-475: The coronation was followed by a procession through London's streets from Westminster Abbey to the Royal residence, allowing the public to view the new king and queen. In 1937, this return route was extended significantly. From Westminster Abbey, it passed around Parliament Square and up the Victoria Embankment (where 40,000 schoolchildren were waiting) and then along Northumberland Avenue, into Trafalgar Square , up Cockspur Street through to Pall Mall ; from there,

6254-415: The couple beforehand. The Archbishop met the King and Queen on the evening before their coronation, running through the ceremony and explaining the most important parts. He was also concerned about King George's stutter and discussed the matter with Lord Dawson of Penn and Lord Wigram ; Lionel Logue was then the King's speech therapist and the Archbishop discussed replacing him, but decided to monitor

6372-444: The cutoff is for a recommendation, even when they use the same scale. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert "both consider[ed] a three-star rating to be the cutoff for a "thumbs up" on their scales of zero to four stars. Film critic Dave Kehr —who also uses a 0–4 star scale—believes "two stars is a borderline recommendation". On a five-star scale, regardless of the bottom rating, 3 stars is often the lowest positive rating, though judging on

6490-409: The design of furniture and insisting on a more traditional appearance; indeed, much of the service and the furnishings were to closely resemble those of the 1911 coronation of George V . Although the Executive Committee was chaired by the Earl Marshal, the Archbishop of Canterbury , Cosmo Lang , was also a driving force behind the preparations for the 1937 coronation; and many of the decisions about

6608-399: The designated peers; King George wore his great robes of state, which had to be carried by nine pages of honour : The Queen was attended by six maids of honour : The royal couple walked past the choir, in which sat the foreign representatives and delegates, before passing through the screen; after this, they sat or stood in their designated area and the King and Queen took their seats in

6726-566: The designer Adam Tihany . The hotel is home to three restaurants: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal , The Aubrey, and The Rosebery Lounge, as well as the Mandarin Bar. The Rosebery Lounge serves traditional afternoon teas , including sandwiches, scones, and sweeter fancy items; its bespoke tea list has around 30 varieties. Citations Sources 51°30′8.3″N 0°9′36.0″W  /  51.502306°N 0.160000°W  / 51.502306; -0.160000 Star (classification) Similar systems have been proposed for electing politicians in

6844-437: The dominions were also on the guest list. Working-class representatives included representatives of the trade unions and co-operative societies, while native Africans were allowed to attend for the first time. The abbey's doors were closed to guests at 8.30 on the morning of the coronation. The official record of the ceremonial, published in the London Gazette , describes the seating plan: "The Lords Spiritual were seated on

6962-411: The eve of the coronation, the King made a live broadcast from Buckingham Palace which was heard throughout the British Empire. The Coronation ceremony itself was not televised, but it was the first coronation service to be broadcast on radio; 28 microphones were placed around the Abbey to capture the music and speech. There was no commentary, but the Reverend Frederic Iremonger , Director of Religion at

7080-450: The facilities provided. Some consider this disadvantageous to smaller hotels whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but the lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization. In recent years hotel rating systems have also been criticized by some who argue that the rating criteria for such systems are overly complex and difficult for laymen to understand. It has been suggested that

7198-421: The film has redeeming facets, and instead uses zero stars as his lowest rating. Examples of rating scales: Critics have different ways of denoting the lowest rating when this is a "zero". Some such as Peter Travers display empty stars. Jonathan Rosenbaum and Dave Kehr use a round black dot. Leslie Halliwell uses a blank space. The Globe and Mail uses a "0", or as their former film critic dubbed it,

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7316-419: The first time a film critic used a star-rating system to grade movies. "The one-star review of The Port of Missing Girls launched the star system, which the newspaper promised would be 'a permanent thing.' According to film scholar Gerald Peary , few newspapers adopted this practice until the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma "started polling critics in the 1950s and boiling their judgment down to

7434-402: The first time on 24 June 1936: Ramsay MacDonald , the Lord President of the Council , met the Duke of Norfolk to discuss the proceedings; MacDonald would chair the Coronation Committee as a whole, and the Duke would chair the Executive Committee. While Edward VIII was away, cruising on the Nahlin with Wallis Simpson, his brother, Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI) sat in his place on

7552-459: The first to be broadcast on radio. In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII , succeeded him as king-emperor of the British Empire. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite Wallis Simpson had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to the shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson and had previously been divorced. The relationship had not been reported in

7670-496: The form of score voting and STAR voting . Repeated symbols used for a ranking date to Mariana Starke 's 1820 guidebook, which used exclamation points to indicate works of art of special value: ...I have endeavored... to furnish Travellers with correct lists of the objects best worth notice...; at the same time marking, with one or more exclamation points (according to their merit), those works which are deemed peculiarly excellent. Murray's Handbooks for Travellers and then

7788-400: The glove over to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household and the Sceptre with the Cross to the Lord of the Manor of Worksop. The Benediction followed and then the King moved over to the other throne, accompanied by the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Durham, the Great Officers of State, the Lords carrying the swords and the Lords who had carried the regalia. The Archbishop knelt and paid homage to

7906-462: The great officers of state, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the lord mayor of London, the officers of arms of England and Scotland, the standards of each dominion, the prime ministers of the UK and of each of the dominions, and the most senior and highest-ranking officials in the Royal Household. They were followed by twelve members of the Yeoman of the Guard and six of its officials. The King and Queen walked surrounded by their regalia, borne by

8024-414: The half star is positioned to the left of one or more whole stars. Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth , as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth , Emperor and Empress consort of India took place at Westminster Abbey , London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. George VI ascended

8142-429: The hotel by requesting permission from the Royal Parks to use the 'Royal Entrance' for special occasions. Guests who have been granted access to this entrance include members of the Japanese Imperial family , former South African Premier General Hertzog , and a President of Uganda . Many important events have been held at the Hyde Park Hotel. A few such events were Lady Doris Vyner's silver wedding party in 1948, with

8260-413: The hotel for many decades. The Hyde Park Hotel opened in 1902, with 268 bedrooms. The building's north entrance, facing Hyde Park, was closed to the public, because King George V did not permit any advertising signage to face the park. The Knightsbridge entrance remained the main public entrance, while the northern was reserved for the royal family. Between 1911 and 1912, the ballroom was redecorated in

8378-438: The hotel fully reopened. As a private gentleman's club , the entrance to the building was through the loggia on the north side. However, when it reopened as the Hyde Park Hotel in 1902, the postal address changed from Albert Gate to 66 Knightsbridge. Tradition has it that the Queen would not allow any form of advertising within the park, and therefore insisted that the main entrance, with the hotel's name above it, be moved from

8496-818: The hotel was bought by Trust Houses Forte . Granada Group plc bought the Forte Group in January 1996. In November 1996, Granada sold the hotel for £86 million to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , which renamed it the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London . The new owners closed the hotel in October 1999 for a £57 million renovation. The hotel re-opened on 18 May 2000. In September 2016, another renovation began, designed by Joyce Wang . As renovation work continued,

8614-404: The hotel was damaged in a fire on 6 June 2018, believed to have been caused by welding work, but no staff or guests were injured. Fire damage was mainly confined to the exterior courtyard area, with limited impact on the interiors. The hotel closed for six months as a result. In December 2018, the public areas of the hotel, including the bars and restaurants, reopened for Christmas. On 15 April 2019,

8732-505: The images from three Emitron television cameras could be sent to the transmission centre at Alexandra Palace . Commentary was by Frederick Grisewood , who was with the cameras at Hyde Park Corner . The coverage of the procession is regarded as being the BBC's first outside broadcast . In reviewing the broadcast, The Daily Telegraph commented: "Horse and foot, the Coronation procession marched into English homes yesterday," while

8850-580: The inclusion of George Frederick Handel 's Zadok the Priest (1727) and Hubert Parry 's I was glad (1902). New work written for the occasion included Confortare (Be strong and play the Man) by Walford Davies and the Festival Te Deum in F Major by Ralph Vaughan Williams . Perhaps the best known work from the 1937 coronation is Crown Imperial , an orchestral march by William Walton . It

8968-499: The lack of a unified global system for rating hotels may also undermine the usability of such schemes. In the UK, providers and comparison websites often use stars to indicate how feature-rich financial products are. The most senior military ranks in all services are classified by a star system in many countries, ranging from one-star rank which typically corresponds to brigadier , brigadier general , Commodore or air commodore , to

9086-443: The lowest rating. The stars are sometimes replaced by symbols such as a fork or spoon. Some guides use separate scales for food, service, ambiance, and even noise level. The Michelin system remains the best known star system. A single star denotes "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars "excellent cooking, worth a detour", and three stars, "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey". Michelin stars are awarded only for

9204-531: The most senior five-star ranks , which include Admiral of the Fleet , Grand Admiral , Field Marshal , General of the Army and Marshal of the Air Force —some five-star ranks only exist during large-scale conflicts. Recruits entering American college football are commonly ranked on a five-star scale, with five representing what scouts think will be the best college players. International organisations use

9322-552: The name Responsibilities of Empire , and also broadcast The Empire's Homage featuring messages from colonial officers and citizens from across the Empire. The BBC's Empire Service broadcast the whole service, lasting two-and-a-half hours. The procession was broadcast on the BBC Television Service , which had only been operating since the previous November. Several tons of television cables, measuring 8 miles (13 km), were laid across central London, so that

9440-417: The nation through the BBC services in the run-up to Coronation Day; he saw the Coronation as an opportunity for the spiritual renewal of the nation, and he organised a campaign of evangelism called Recall to Religion , which he launched on 27 December 1936 with an address on BBC radio. He was also keen to ensure that the King and Queen understood the religious nuances of the service, and held two meetings with

9558-639: The number of predicted stars. The Unicode Standard encodes several characters used for star ratings in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows block: The STAR WITH LEFT HALF BLACK and LEFT HALF BLACK STAR are intended for use in left-to-right contexts where the half star is positioned to the right of one or more whole stars, whereas the STAR WITH RIGHT HALF BLACK and RIGHT HALF BLACK STAR are intended for use in right-to-left contexts (such as Arabic or Hebrew ) where

9676-525: The occasion by the Crown Jewellers, Garrard & Co . Queen Elizabeth's crown was new and made from platinum ; it featured the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the crown of Queen Mary . Queen Elizabeth wore a gown made of silk satin , with pure gold thread embroidery in a rose and thistle pattern. The ermine-lined velvet robe had a floral pattern with a gold outline. The goldwork on the gown and

9794-560: The order of service were made by or with him. He was an ex officio member of both the Executive Committee and the Coronation Committee, which dealt with the detail and, as such, he attended all of the rehearsals. He tended to take a leading role in the planning process, becoming a key mediator when queries arose, and dealing with questions of how the service should be broadcast by the media. Lang also spoke to

9912-610: The palace. The royal members were led in by two officers of arms—the Bluemantle Pursuivant ( R.P. Graham-Vivian ) and the Portcullis Pursuivant ( A.R. Wagner )—followed by two Gentleman Ushers (Captain Humphrey Lloyd and Colonel Vivian Gabriel ), and were led to their seats in the royal gallery. The foreign representatives followed in at roughly 09:00 and were greeted by senior members of

10030-601: The park side to Knightsbridge. The Queen consequently mandated that the original entrance be preserved for royal use, unless permission is otherwise granted by the Royal Household, which has been upheld ever since. The doors were opened during the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 when the Crown gave special permission for the guests to use the park entrance. Today, guests of Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, can still take part in this tradition of

10148-729: The performance of vehicles in crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians. The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also uses a star ranking to rank the safety of vehicles in crash tests, including front, side, pole impacts, and rollovers, with 5 stars being the most secure. Some web content voting systems use five-star grades. This allows users to distinguish content more precisely than with binary " like buttons ". Many recommender systems , such as MovieLens or Amazon.com , ask people to express preferences using star ratings, then predict what other items those people are likely to enjoy. Predictions are often expressed in terms of

10266-508: The player to repeat and fully master previously beaten levels in order to receive a perfect 3-star rating, which may confer other benefits or bonus content. Another use of star ratings is to denote the rarity of characters in video games where players are tasked in collecting numerous characters, such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and Marvel: Contest of Champions , in which stronger and rarer characters are marked with more stars to make them appear more valuable. Stars are also used to rank

10384-542: The previous year's best short stories. O'Brien claimed to read as many as 8,000 stories a year, and his editions contained lengthy tabulations of stories and magazines, ranked on a scale of zero to three stars, representing O'Brien's notion of their "literary permanence." He further listed stories with a ranking of three stars "in a special 'Roll of Honor.'" In this list, O'Brien attached an additional asterisk to those stories that he personally enjoyed. Oliver Herford 's essay Say it with Asterisks , quips "Never, I think, were

10502-652: The procession into the abbey. The King and Queen then joined the procession, with the King carrying the Sceptre with the Cross in his right hand and the Orb in his left, while the Queen carried her Sceptre with the Cross in her right hand and the Ivory Rod with the Dove in her left. They proceeded to the West Door of the Abbey as the National Anthem, " God Save the King ", was sung. As in the 1902 and 1911 events,

10620-459: The procession was the longest on record, at six and a quarter miles (10.1 kilometres). Before and after the event, the British and Dominion troops were accommodated in temporary camps at Kensington Gardens , Regent's Park , Primrose Hill , Olympia and Hampton Court ; the Colonial troops were housed in various London barracks . The musical director for the service was Ernest Bullock , who

10738-445: The procession went up St James' Street, joining Piccadilly, then up Regent Street, then west along Oxford Street , before turning past Marble Arch and then down East Carriage Road, alongside Hyde Park ; from there, the procession passed through Hyde Park Corner and then through Wellington Arch , on to Constitution Hill and then back into Buckingham Palace. The progression included a large number of military personnel from across

10856-491: The procession were lesser members and relatives of the Royal Family and the representatives of foreign royalty and heads of state; they departed Buckingham Palace by car between 08:40 and 08:45 and arrived at the abbey ten minutes later; British and Dominion prime ministers followed half an hour later, leaving at 09:15. At 09:49, members of the Royal Family left the palace (Queen Mary's carriage left Marlborough House shortly afterwards at 10:13). The King and Queen then travelled in

10974-433: The public may ignore the reviews and concentrate more the star ratings alone. Star ratings are not often used to rate the quality of a video game but are rather used within certain games for varying purposes. One notable use of the star system is to grade a player's performance in completing a level with up to three stars, used in many modern multi-level games like Angry Birds . This three-star rating system challenges

11092-510: The quality of food and wine; the luxury level of the restaurant is rated separately, using a scale of one ("quite comfortable") to five ("luxury in the traditional style") crossed fork and spoon symbols. Hotel luxury is often denoted by stars. Other classifiers, such as the AAA Five Diamond Award , use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel rating levels. Hotels are assessed in traditional systems and rest heavily on

11210-400: The recognition, the King then took an oath and was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being crowned king. As a remnant of the coronation ceremony's feudal origins, the King then received homage from the peers and peeresses of the realm in attendance. There were few departures from the services conducted at previous coronations. Efforts were made to shorten the lengthy proceedings:

11328-406: The return procession through London 's streets. The media played an important part in broadcasting this show of pageantry and imperialism to the Empire. The coronation procession was an important event in the history of television , being the country's first major outside broadcast , although the ceremony inside the abbey was not televised. It was also the first coronation to be filmed, as well as

11446-561: The rite to reflect this change; the King now swore to maintain "the Protestant Reformed Religion only as established by law in the United Kingdom." During Edward VIII's reign, a committee was established and chaired by the Duke of York to investigate how colonial representatives might be included within the ceremony. The committee failed, though, to implement any changes, except to the Coronation Oath . This

11564-658: The robe was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework . The gown and the robe also featured designs patriotic to the British Empire. Created by Elizabeth Handley-Seymour , the toile featured the embroidered emblems of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the other dominions . The national flowers that appeared on the robe included the South African protea and the Indian lotus flower . Intertwined letter Es for Elizabeth were also embroidered on

11682-719: The robe. Norman Hartnell dressed the maids of honour. While the litany was sung, the Choir led the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster down from the High Altar at 09:55; they were carrying the Crown Jewels and regalia, which they then deposited at the Vestibule. The Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office then handed the regalia to the Lord High Constable , who in turn handed them to

11800-402: The service to citizens of the Empire allowed the Coronation to further Britain's imperial ambitions; as Range wrote, "with the twentieth century there also came a heightened awareness of ... the propagandistic qualities of the event". The BBC and CBC jointly transmitted the proclamation of George VI. In the lead up to the Coronation, the BBC organised talks by Ministers to be broadcast under

11918-420: The spirituality of the ceremony. Despite recalling it as being "inordinately long" and remembering how heavy the crown and robes were, the Queen said that it was "wonderful and there is a great sense of offering oneself". The King wrote to Lang thanking him for his support and, although he said it was an "ordeal", he also wrote that "I felt I was being helped all the time by Someone Else as you said I would". On

12036-399: The style of Louis XVI by Mewès and Davis. In 1925, a palm court was added. The hotel was visited by several members of the royal family, including Queen Mary (wife of George V ) and Edward VIII . Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook , was staying at the hotel in 1916 when he was offered the peerage. Several silent film stars frequented the hotel, including Rudolph Valentino . In 1968,

12154-752: The swords, were laid on the altar. The King then knelt before the altar and swore on the Bible his coronation oath , a copy of which he then signed. The Archbishop of Canterbury then began the Communion Service, while the Bishop of London read the Epistle and the Archbishop of York the Gospel; after the Service concluded, the King and Queen knelt while the choir sang " Veni, Creator Spiritus ". This marked

12272-461: The throne upon the abdication of his brother , Edward VIII , on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date. Although the music included a range of new anthems and the ceremony underwent some alterations to include the Dominions , it remained

12390-532: The vestibule and at the entrance, and the King and Queen arrived at 11:00. On their entry, they were greeted by the great officers of state, the archbishops, and the peers bearing the regalia. They then formed their procession, which was led by the King's chaplain and the Chapter at Westminster, who were followed by representatives of the Free Churches and the Church of Scotland. The procession involved all of

12508-469: The wrong way, one bishop stepped on the King's train, and another obscured the words of the Oath with his thumb while the King was reading it. In the text of the service, this part of the ceremony was described using the archaic term "inthronization". The Archbishop of Canterbury presented the Bible to the King and the King returned it to him, who gave it to the Dean, who placed it on the Altar. The King handed

12626-428: Was a very public spectacle; Sir Roy Strong argues that the month-long festivities were designed to "recapture the confidence of the nation" following the abdication crisis. The first week saw receptions for foreign visitors and delegates, while a State Banquet was held on 10 May, but the weeks following the coronation saw more public spectacles; the following day included a royal drive through north London, 16 May included

12744-456: Was an opponent of using symbols to summarize a review and wrote in 1992 that "When Globe editors first proposed the four-star system of rating movies about a year ago, the response from Globe critics was, to put it mildly, underwhelming." More recently, Mark Kermode has expressed a dislike of star ratings (assigned to his online reviews but not his print or radio reviews) on the grounds that his verdicts are sometimes too complex to be expressed as

12862-405: Was attended by the King's and Queen's daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret , as well as by the King's mother, Queen Mary . When Mary attended the coronation, she became the first British dowager queen to do so. Members of the extended royal family attended and all peers and members of parliament were invited. Leading colonial administrators, ambassadors, Indian princes and premiers of

12980-529: Was conducted by the Garter King of Arms to St Edward's Chair , and the Archbishop, as tradition dictates, asked: "Sirs, I here present unto you King George, your undoubted King: wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?" The people replied loudly at each repetition "God save King George". The king then sat in the Chair of Estate and the regalia, except

13098-443: Was conducted for the Queen's coronation. The return procession to Buckingham Palace was over six miles (9.7 km) in length, making it the longest coronation procession up to that time; crowds of people lined the streets to watch it, over 32,000 soldiers and sailors took part, and 20,000 police officers lined the route. The coronation was commemorated by the issuing of official medals , coinage and stamps, by military parades across

13216-554: Was crowned and anointed in a much smaller and simpler ceremony. This began immediately after the homage to the King finished, when the Queen knelt in prayer before the altar. She then went to the Faldstool , which had been placed before the altar, where she knelt under a canopy, which was held by the Duchesses of Norfolk, Rutland , Buccleuch , and Roxburghe . The Archbishop anointed her, placed on her fourth finger on her right hand

13334-409: Was flanked by The Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and they were followed by the Duchesses of Gloucester and Kent and then, in pairs, Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught ; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and Lady Patricia Ramsay ; and Princess Marie Louise and Princess Helena Victoria , each with an attendant, train-bearer, or coronet carrier, as applicable. Twenty minutes later,

13452-417: Was later broadcast from these recordings, with the authorities censoring only one small section: a clip of Queen Mary wiping a tear from her eye. Aside from the Coronation ceremony itself, a 23-day-long programme of official events spanned most of May 1937. The 1902 Coronation was the first to see such a programme implemented, but 1937 was nearly twice as long, and, building on similar developments in 1911, it

13570-646: Was organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, in consultation with the Master of the King's Musick , Henry Walford Davies . The Abbey choir was supplemented by choirs from the Chapel Royal , St Paul's Cathedral , St George's Chapel, Windsor and the Temple Church . An orchestra composed of musicians from London's main orchestras was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult . Tradition demanded

13688-506: Was succeeded by his next younger brother, George VI . Before his accession, George had been known as Prince Albert, Duke of York ; his regnal name was chosen in honour of his late father. In 1923, he had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne . Although the reign of the British monarch begins on his or her succession to the throne, the coronation service marks their formal investiture. In 1937,

13806-446: Was the desire of Bullock and Davies that the programme should include music from 'Tudor times to the present day' and so new pieces were composed by Arnold Bax , Arthur Bliss and Granville Bantock , as well as Walton and Vaughan Williams. Walton's Crown Imperial was played while the King and Queen progressed up the nave; Edvard Grieg 's Homage March from Sigurd Jorsalfar and Edward German 's Coronation March were played when

13924-484: Was the first amendment to the oath since the coronation of King William III and Queen Mary II in 1689. Although 1937 saw an increase in the colonial contingents partaking in the procession and an official lunch in Westminster Hall was given to parliamentary representatives of Empire states for the first time, the service itself was barely altered to reflect the new status of the Dominions. The ceremony

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