Coventry Cathedral 'had a special closeness with our Queen'

The Queen had a long historical association with the city of Coventry.

She first visited in 1948 while still a princess, when she opened the new Broadgate and laid the foundation stone for a shopping precinct as the city recovered from World War Two.

But after the city's cathedral was destroyed during the war, her return in 1956 to lay the foundation stone of the new cathedral resonated even further.

The Queen would return six years later for the consecration of the cathedral, with her visit captured on camera by amateur film-maker, David Arnold.

Like so many in the country, the cathedral enjoyed "a special closeness with our Queen", its dean Reverend John Whitcombe said.

10 September 2022

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