England’s Coronation, Global Visitors, and the Changing Face of Empire in 1937
When Americans picked up the May 3, 1937 issue of Life Magazine, they found themselves drawn into one of the most anticipated royal events of the twentieth century: the coronation of King George VI. But this wasn’t just about crowns and ceremony. The magazine’s striking photo-essay, “England Fills Up With Outlanders Come for the Coronation,” captured the gathering of peoples from across the British Empire and beyond—Indians, Americans, Japanese princes, financiers, colonial officials, and polo grooms who converged on London in a remarkable display of global reach.
For readers in the United States, this was more than society page gossip. It was a living record of how monarchy, empire, and international politics intersected in the tense years between the world wars. The images and captions brought home the cultural spectacle of Britain’s new monarch, but also revealed the contradictions of empire: wealth alongside poverty, tradition alongside modernity, and colonial subjects thrust into the center of metropolitan life.
The coronation of George VI on May 12, 1937, was itself the product of crisis. Just months earlier, his elder brother Edward VIII had abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, the American divorcée whose presence in royal life proved intolerable to the British establishment. The abdication sent shockwaves across the empire, and the coronation of George VI, a shy and reluctant monarch, was both an attempt to restore stability and an opportunity to showcase imperial unity.
The coronation became a magnet for visitors. Life’s coverage noted that some half a million people would cross seas to witness the event. Delegations came not only from Britain’s self-governing Dominions—Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa—but also from India and the colonies. Among them was the Nawab of Bhopal, who brought with him a full polo team, 50 turbaned grooms, and dozens of horses, instantly catching the attention of the British public.
This moment unfolded against the larger backdrop of global uncertainty. Germany, under Hitler, had already remilitarized the Rhineland. Italy had invaded Ethiopia the year before. Japan had consolidated its hold on Manchuria and was preparing for wider war in China. Britain’s show of imperial splendor in 1937 was therefore not just pageantry; it was a symbolic assertion that the empire remained strong and cohesive in an unstable world.
For American readers, who often consumed European news through the lens of glamour and drama, Life made the coronation a vivid story of people and places. It wasn’t merely about George VI taking the throne; it was about how a nation and an empire gathered to reassert its identity.
By 1937, Life Magazine was already famous for pioneering photojournalism that blended image and text in a way that no other publication could match. The May 3 issue exemplified this approach. Instead of dry descriptions of processions, readers encountered photographs of Indian horsemen trotting through the English countryside, a turbaned groom trying his hand at darts in a Gloucestershire pub, and the Nawab of Bhopal’s young heir reading a coronation souvenir in bed.
These images did more than document events; they humanized them. They invited readers to see the coronation not just as a royal ritual but as a moment of cultural exchange and spectacle. The captions underscored the scale of the Nawab’s wealth—38 polo ponies valued at $140,000, an entourage that cost $75,000 to maintain in England, and a personal Brahmin cook brought along for his Muslim grooms. For readers in small-town America, these details painted a vivid picture of how empire and aristocracy operated on a grand scale.
The magazine also captured the transformation of London itself. Entire blocks were boarded up with temporary stands for viewing the parade. Hospitals rented out window seats overlooking the coronation route. Decorative crowns were stacked in piles, waiting to be fastened to lampposts. Even mundane details—the boarding over of George III’s statue on Pall Mall—were presented with striking visuals that turned infrastructure into storytelling.
This approach sets Life apart. Where newspapers might print words and a handful of photographs, Life offered a seamless combination of narrative and image, making readers feel they were walking through London in the spring of 1937.
The cover photograph for the May 3 issue was not of the king himself but of actress Jean Harlow in Hollywood, taken by Martin Munkacsi. This juxtaposition was typical of Life—a reminder that it was not purely a news magazine but a cultural chronicle, equally at home with Hollywood glamour and global politics. The editorial decision underscored how the magazine sought to capture the full spectrum of modern life.
Inside, however, the coronation coverage demonstrated Life’s signature style. The essay “England Fills Up With Outlanders” framed visitors as both exotic and integral to the imperial spectacle. The images emphasized contrasts—English villagers watching turbanned grooms, Indian horsemen riding through quiet country lanes, and the Nawab’s wealth set against Britain’s more restrained traditions.
This was not simple reporting. It was photojournalism as cultural interpretation, shaping how American readers understood Britain and its empire. The use of humor—such as captions describing Indian grooms learning English pub games—sat alongside solemn references to the massive influx of international dignitaries. Together, the coverage gave readers a layered view of the empire: magnificent, strange, sometimes awkward, but always compelling.
Today, the May 3, 1937 issue of Life Magazine is highly collectible, and not just because it covered one of the most iconic royal events of the twentieth century. Collectors prize it for several reasons:
First, it represents the coronation of George VI, a key turning point in modern monarchy. His reign would carry Britain through World War II, and his story was later immortalized in popular culture through works like The King’s Speech.
Second, the issue captures the British Empire at its ceremonial peak. The imagery of Indian princes, colonial delegations, and international dignitaries is a time capsule of a world that would dissolve within decades as independence movements swept Asia and Africa.
Third, it exemplifies Life’s unique contribution to photojournalism. The combination of Hollywood culture on the cover with imperial grandeur inside makes the issue a perfect example of the magazine’s editorial philosophy: to cover both the glamorous and the consequential.
Collectors also see these magazines not merely as reading material but as artifacts. Owning the May 3, 1937 issue is like holding a piece of the coronation itself, complete with the visuals and narratives that shaped how millions of people perceived the event at the time. Families with ties to Britain, history enthusiasts, and royal watchers alike consider it a prized possession.
For modern readers, vintage Life magazines offer more than nostalgia. They are cultural documents that show us how people of the 1930s, 1940s, and beyond saw their world. The May 3, 1937 issue reminds us that monarchy and empire were not distant abstractions but daily news. It shows us how Americans understood Britain at a time when alliances and identities were shifting, just two years before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Life’s ability to convey atmosphere, detail, and cultural tension is what makes these magazines endure. In a digital world where news disappears quickly, the tactile presence of these pages—filled with photographs, captions, and advertisements—anchors history in a way that still resonates.
If you are interested in exploring this issue or others like it, thousands of original Life magazines are available in our collection. From the 1930s through the 1970s, you can trace entire decades of politics, culture, and daily life as they were recorded in real time.
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Whether you are a seasoned collector, a royal historian, or simply someone curious about how your grandparents experienced world events, these magazines offer something rare: the chance to see history as it was first reported.
The May 3, 1937 issue of Life Magazine remains one of the most fascinating windows into the British Empire at its ceremonial height. By covering the coronation of George VI through the lens of its international visitors, it revealed not only the pomp of the monarchy but also the complexity of empire and global interconnection.
Holding this issue is like stepping into London in the spring of 1937: the streets crowded with foreign dignitaries, the air filled with the sounds of preparation, the contrasts between empire and everyday life on vivid display. Thanks to Life’s unmatched photojournalism, those moments endure, reminding us that history is never just dates and events—it is people, images, and the worlds they inhabit.
For anyone who values history, vintage Life magazines are not simply old paper. They are living artifacts. And through them, the past still speaks.