Constance Spry Arranging Tables for Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Banquet

Constance Spry arranging the table setting for Queen Elizabeth II at the coronation banquet in Lancaster House, London, 1953.
Spry writes in 'Party Flowers', "It was probably extremely naive of me not to realise at once what doors would be opened for such an event. What followed was very like that childhood's dream of finding oneself in an Aladdin's cave of treasure....The wonderful gold and silver of the Wellington and of the Ormonde collections. Then similar excitement was repeated when Sir Leigh Ashton allowed us behind the scenes at the Victoria & Albert Museum and helped us choose what we required for flowers. For the Queen's table the lovely gold and silver tureens known, I think, as the Deccan Set, were chosen, together with the superb candelabrum that goes with these... The next preoccupation was the decoration of the room, in particular of an expanse of wall behind Her Majesty's table...these [wall] drops, eight in number, 12 to 15 feet in length, were looped together at the top by draped swags of soft fabric in green and gold. This framework served to unify them and prevent them from looking isolated. Our guide for these was found to a large extent in the gilded plaster ornamentation of the walls; the ribbon garlanded through the fruits and flowers was of soft gauze-like gold."
Image from a Constance Spry photograph album, Ref: 2019.265.7