Camelon’s Irene shares Queen’s diamond celebration
Irene Davie was Mariners Queen 60 years ago
Irene Davie has good reason to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee... as she became a queen 60 years ago!
Irene, nee Hendrie, took the role at Mariners Day in 1952, with her crowning taking place on June 13.
Although who now living in Falkirk, she hails from Camelon and says the gala was a real highlight in residents’ calendars.
And Irene, grandmother to Aidan and Ava, remembers she was thrilled to have been selected.
She told The Falkirk Herald: “Back then the names of all the 14-year-old girls from Camelon were put in a hat to be selected as queen.
“The draw was at the Roxy Theatre in Falkirk during the interval of a film. When my name was read out I didn’t hang about to see the other half!”
The former St Francis Primary School pupil ran to tell her grandmother, who lived in nearby Gordon Street, and then excitedly began preparations to have her dress made.
Irene, whose late husband Alex was a goalkeeper for East Stirlingshire FC, can’t believe it’s 60 years since she sat on the throne.
“It was a fabulous day for a young girl and the crowds were incredible,’’ she recalled, ‘‘So many people turned up for the crowning and the procession.
“It’s such a shame they don’t do it any more. It was a real treat for the young ones.
“I wouldn’t call myself a Royalist but I do follow the Royal family and what they are doing. The Queen wasn’t actually crowned until the year after I was the Mariner Queen, but she had her accession in 1952.
“I will be watching the Diamond Jubilee this weekend, just like I watched her coronation in 1953.
“Back then we didn’t have a television so we all went round to my friend Nan Risk, who lived in Sunny Brae, as she was the only one of us who had a TV.
“But Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was a bit different to mine!”
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Weather for Falkirk
Friday 24 May 2013
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