UK Archives: Mystery of the missing coronation loo rolls

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By Cahal Milmo
20 August 2004

Independent Snip:

The crowning of a monarch is planned to the minutest detail. But when it came to the coronation of Elizabeth II, it seems civil servants failed to allow for lavatory-paper pilfering.

Documents released yesterday at the National Archives reveal that organisers of the coronation in 1953 were caught out when the tissue laid out for dignitaries in 84 lavatories at Westminster Abbey vanished overnight.

An official report into the state occasion called for tighter security at future events. Noting that the lavatory blocks had been provided with a roll holder, mirrors and floor lino, it stated: "It was found, early on Coronation Day, that much of the lavatory paper had been removed. In future it will be necessary to take special steps to prevent this." The coronation was not the first time that the Ministry of Works had been found wanting on its royal water closet provision.

A similar report into the crowning of George VI in 1937 detailed how a faulty formula meant too many loos were provided on the processional route for men (169) and too few for women (332).

It said that provision should be increased to six female cubicles for every 1,000 spectators. The figure was cut to one for the men, who in turn benefited from a lengthening of their urinals from 6.6ft to 7.5ft.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=553296

[truthisfreedom]

1. the infamous trough...

the "measure" of a man.

[jeff30997]

2. Strange story.

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3. Maybe counter-intelligence to hint that "1953 coronation was a

load of shit and the documents to prove it were destroyed/are missing"

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4. State events left them flushed with embarrassment: UK Times

By Alan Hamilton and John Crosland
The Coronation’s more unmentionable facilities had problems, we discovered in newly released archives


SNIP:
WHILE the public admires the seamless pageantry of great state occasions, it’s the workmen who spot the flaws. Records of the old Ministry of Works released yesterday by the National Archives disclose a catalogue of imperfections at moments of national history, from the bad behaviour of MPs at the lying-in-state of dead monarchs, to the mystery of the disappearing toilet paper at the present Queen’s Coronation in Westminster Abbey.

Charged with attending to the unglamorous nuts and bolts of big ceremonial occasions, the ministry always produced a full and critical post-mortem report. The men from the ministry were particularly proud of their lavatory arrangements. They installed 154 chemical lavatories in the Abbey for the 1953 Coronation, staffed by 20 male and 23 female attendants, each supplied with copious bottles and sprays of deodorant (“supplied gratis by Messrs Airwick”). Women attendants were dressed in white overalls with the EIIR cipher on each lapel, which they were invited to buy afterwards for £1 each. But all was not well, as the ministry report noted with dismay: “It was found, early on Coronation Day, that much of the lavatory paper had been removed, and in future it will be necessary to take special steps to prevent this.”

By contrast, housekeeping arrangements in the Abbey nave bordered on the over-zealous, with a team of cleaners given eight minutes to sweep the processional route from Great West Door to altar between the guests being seated and the arrival of the Queen. The ministry conceded: “The presence of the cleaners at this stage after the many solemn processions, finishing with that of the Queen Mother, created an undesirable and disturbing anti-climax.” The recommendation for future coronations was to restrict last-minute cleaning to picking up stray pieces of paper and dropped orders of service.

For George VI’s Coronation in 1937 the ministry men were so concerned with providing sufficient lavatories on the processional route that they devised a scientific formula: 3.6 per 1,000 women spectators, considerably fewer for men. Afterwards they admitted to a miscalculation; the men were fine, but there should have been six lavatories per 1,000 women. Had heavy rain not dispersed many spectators from the Royal Parks, the queues would have been even longer. Water troubles of a different kind affected the lying-in-state of George VI in Westminster Hall in February 1952; rain constantly dripped from the roof close to the coffin: “On Tuesday, February 12, a small leak in the roof, dripping on to the southwest corner of the platform to the Catafalque, became apparent. Every endeavour was made to find its source and every means of stopping it was considered. But it was found impossible to take any action without disturbing the lying-in-state.” It turned out to have been caused by a warped piece of oak in a recently repaired section of roof. What annoyed the ministry men far more than a leaky roof was the behaviour of MPs at the lying-in-state. The official report voiced dismay at Members “greatly abusing their privilege of introducing four guests”, and bringing them in by the dozen.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1224276,00.html