Guns mark coronation anniversary

The 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation has been marked by thundering royal gun salutes.

The monarch, who was crowned on June 2, 1953 when she was just 27 years old, reached the milestone anniversary on Sunday.

But as the anniversary fell on a Sunday, a day when gun salutes are traditionally not fired, the military spectacle was performed on Monday at lunchtime.

Soldiers from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, the ceremonial saluting battery of the Household Division, rode out from Wellington Barracks in central London and made their way up Birdcage Walk, past the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace, up Constitution Hill and into Green Park.

Before their arrival in Green Park, the Band of the Royal Artillery played a selection of celebratory music close to the firing position.

Seventy one horses pulled six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns into position in the park, which is located next to Buckingham Palace, and fired their 41-gun royal salute at midday.

An hour later at the Tower of London, the Honourable Artillery Company fired a 62-round royal salute from the Tower's Gun Wharf across the River Thames.

The basic royal salute is 21 rounds but an extra 20 are added if fired from a royal park like Green Park, or royal palace such as the Tower of London. A further 21 rounds are added to signify the City of London's loyalty to the monarch and the Royal Family.

The Queen visited the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at their barracks in Woolwich last week, when she also paid her respects to soldier Drummer Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death in the street nearby.

Drummer Rigby lived at the base and the Queen privately met officers and soldiers associated with the serviceman.