THE QUEEN will attend a service at Westminster Abbey on Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of her coronation in 1953. The event will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 and BBC One television. Among the guests at the abbey will be 1,000 members of the public, drawn from a ballot of more than 5,000 applications to attend.

And, to mark the occasion of the jubilee, the abbey — the scene of almost every English crowning since 1066 — has put some of its coronation treasures from the past thousand years on show for the first time in a special display and tour that runs until the end of July.

In the weeks after the service, thousands of tourists are expected to follow a route around the abbey that highlights key stages in the coronation service, viewing the 700- year-old coronation chair, and standing in the sanctuary, at the heart of the abbey, where the Queen was crowned. They will also see the museum display of practice regalia and other coronation treasures and effigies dating back to Queen Elizabeth I’s reign.

Among the treasures on show are the colobium sindonis, the white tunic worn by the Queen during the crowning, and coronation orders of service used by members of the congregation.

Dr Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster, says: “For almost a thousand years Westminster Abbey has made its unique contribution to the life of the nation. It has been our privilege to host no fewer than 38 coronations — the first was that of William the Conqueror on Christmas Day 1066. This special tour and display celebrate the story of the abbey’s unique responsibility and contribution to the country’s history.”

The walking tour aims to give visitors an idea of the scale of the interior building work required over six months to create the 1953 “coronation theatr”, including special platforms at the high altar and tiered seating to accommodate the congregation, choir and orchestra (nearly 9,000 people in all).

The abbey’s museum, in the 11th-century basement of the monks’ dormitory in the medieval cloisters, hosts the main display. The tour and display are scheduled to close at the end of July, although some of the items will be permanently on view in future.

Admission times: Monday to Friday 9.30am-1.45pm, Saturday 9.30am-1.45pm.

• On Saturday The Times will include a special souvenir supplement about the 50th anniversary of the coronation.