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Royal Wedding 1947

Inhabit the unique perspective of an amateur filmmaker in the crowd at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, 1947.

Amateur film 1947 3 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

This amateur marvelous monochrome manifestation of the 1947 royal wedding was shot from within the watching crowd outside Westminster Abbey. Then, black-and-white gives way to colour: people anxiously anticipating the arrival of their sovereign, before a brief but fulfilling shot of the car carrying the people of the hour as it passes the animated assemblage. Finally, a concluding sequence capturing the expansive Abbey in its full beauty.

Shot by amateur filmmaker Ivan Bawtree, formerly a photographer for the British Red Cross during the First World War. This film is from the collection of Sutton Archives, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.