I have finally witnessed a Coronation.
The last coronation was 70 years ago.
King Charles III was crowned yesterday on 6 May 2023, 2 days before VE Day as reminded by my good friend Ng Wai Foon.
This is a classic account of a climb linked to a prior Coronation.
James (now Jan) Morris as a reporter climbed up to Camp III so that he can break the news that a British-led expedition had conquered Mount Everest the day before Queen Elizabeth’s coronation on June 2, 1953.
Coronation Everest is written in a style that most travel writers now aim to aspire to, but few succeed.
The scoop that Morris had had to be communicated to England in secrecy and yet quickly enough to celebrate the Coronation of Q E2. This is vividly told by Jan in this exquisite book.