Paul McCartney wins a competition for writing an essay about the Queen’s Coronation

Ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, schools in England organized a competition inviting pupils to write an essay on the monarchy. Ten-year-old Paul McCartney took part and won the contest at his school.

In 1969, he wrote and recorded “Her Majesty” as a homage to the Queen. Over the years, Paul crossed paths with her on numerous occasions.

Mind you, I did win a Coronation essay prize once! Out of 200 entries from the City of Liverpool. I was the triumphant winner who walked wobbly-kneed to accept his prize from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool himself. The prize was two books about the Queen, which are treasured to this day. 

Paul McCartney – From Punch Magazine, August 1973

Because the coronation was approaching, there was a competition for all the schools in England. You had to write an essay on the monarchy, and I liked that idea. And, lo and behold, I actually won it. I won my division. And I was very nervous because they called out my name, Paul McCartney. And I stumbled up with legs of jelly, and it was the first time I’d ever kind of really been on a stage.

Paul McCartney – Interview with CBS, May 2021

Coronation Day

On the Coronation Day of William the Conquerer, senseless Saxon folk gathered round Westminster Abbey to cheer their Norman king as he walked down the aisle.  The Normans thinking this was an insult turned upon the Saxons killing nearly all of them.  But on the Coronation Day of our lovely, youn queen, Queen Elizabeth II, no rioting, nor killing will take place because present day royalty rules with affection rather than force.  The crowds outside Buckingham Palace will be greater than they have been for any other Coronation, so will the processional route to the Abbey.  Preparations are going on all over the world, even in Australia poepl care preparing to take that long voyage to England.  In London, children, for a Coronation treat, are being given a free seat roadside.  For a quarter of a mile grandstands are being erected for the sake of these lucky children.  But the London children are not the only lucky children, for youngsters in other parts of Britain are receiving mugs with a portrait of the Queen engraved on the china.  Souveniers are being made ready for any tourists who come to see tho marvellous spectacle.  One of these being “The Coronation Loving Cup” which is designed to show both Queen Elizabeth the Second on the front and Queen Elizabeth the first on the back.  Another is a goblet which is being made Edinburgh and has a bubble enclosed in the stem, and in fancy letter, ER, is engraved on the glass.  One alternation is that the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires in the crown are being dismantled, polished, and replaced by expert jewellers.  But after all this bother, many people will agree with me that it was well worth it.

Paul McCartney

From Daily Mail Online, September 28, 2009:

Just two months short of his 11th birthday, the neat one-page essay earned the young McCartney first prize for his age-group in a competition to mark the coronation – a book token, presented by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

The handwritten piece about the Queen’s coronation was found by author Kevin Roach at the Central Library in Liverpool. Writing in 1953, the young McCartney declares that Britain’s ‘present day royalty rules with affection rather than force’. 

In 1997, he felt that ‘affection’ when he was knighted by the same queen.

Mr Roach, who is researching a book about the McCartney family, described the essay as ‘unique’. He said he wasn’t concerned about its value, but likened the essay to John Lennon’s christening bracelet, which was the last piece of Beatles memorabilia to be sold in a private auction. It fetched £27,000.

Sir Paul, whose hits included Paperback Writer, was marked down for his grammar in the project, using the word ‘But’ at the start of a sentence. But instead of joining the examiner in criticism, Mr Roach believes the decorative ‘B’ hints towards the musician’s future.

‘The interesting thing is that it is the same ‘B’ as on the early Beatles drum-kit logo in 1961 and 1962,’ he said. ‘His handwriting is well advanced – you would say it was written by someone who was older than 10-years-old, more like 14 or 15.’

The 10-year-old, who would become one of the most famous singer songwriters of all time, entered a city council essay competition in 1953 while he was a pupil at Joseph Williams junior school in Belle Vale, Liverpool. The schoolboy compares the happy scenes expected outside Buckingham Palace to the coronation of William the Conqueror nine centuries earlier, when a massacre of Saxons took place.

Sir Paul won the under-11s age group category and was presented with a prize at the Central Library by the Lord Mayor on 27 May 1953.

Mr Roach said he came across the  bound collection of essays while working on a book about the history of the McCartney family. ‘I did know from reading the council minutes that this competition took place, and it was then a case of looking for the actual winning entries,’ he said.

He discovered the volume among a collection marked ‘coronation events’. There were no clues pointing towards the rock star’s essay, which is thought to be his earliest surviving creative work.

Mr Roach said many historians believe McCartney bought a book on modern art with his book token prize and that the book inspired him to become a musician. By chance, the volume of essays were stored next to a collection of issues of Mersey Beat – the music magazine that helped launch the Beatles to become the biggest band of their generation.

From Daily Mail Online, September 28, 2009

Going further

The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years

"With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group."

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