Friday, April 26, 2024
While stationed in London, McGlothlin is shown on leave visiting in London’s Hyde Park.
Following the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, it was announced by Buckingham Palace that her successor, Prince Charles, will have his coronation ceremony on May 6, 2023, where he will formally become King Charles III, seventy years following his mother’s coronation in 1953.
The coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II occurred on June 2, 1953, at Westminster Abbey in London. Her coronation was the first major world even to be broadcast internationally on television so that the world could witness the elaborate ceremony.
In 1953, the coronation route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey was lined with approximately three million spectators and well-wishers from across the British Empire who were gathered on the streets of London. One of those spectators included Gatesville native, James McGlothlin.
McGlothlin, who was born in Coryell County in 1931, joined the U.S. Army following his graduation from Gatesville High School in 1949. According to his daughter, Betsy McGlothlin Clark, he was stationed in Europe at age 21, mainly in London. “My father was able to see the procession that was taking Queen Elizabeth to Westminster Abbey. My dad said that he was actually able to see the Queen in her carriage since he had a great place to stand among the throngs of people lining the streets,” Clark recalls. “He would demonstrate her royal wave for us kids and told of how pretty the young queen was and how ornate her carriage was,” she said. The golden coach that transported the young monarch to the Abbey was drawn by eight horses and had been used by the British Royal Family since 1760.
“That was a big deal for that young sergeant who had barely left Coryell County. It was also a big deal to hear this story as he was normally a man of few words. Apparently, seeing the Queen made quite an impression on him,” Clark said.
Following his discharge from the Army, McGlothlin returned to central Texas where he worked for Rocketdyne in McGregor for 19 years. In 1975, he became the City Secretary in Gatesville and would remain in that position for 20 years until his retirement in 1995. Following his retirement, he served on the Gatesville City Council.
McGlothlin died in 2008 at the age of 77 and is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Gatesville. To this day, his children continue to remember his remarkable stories and his legacy – including his story of seeing Queen Elizabeth’s legendary procession in 1953.
