A Look Back at King George VI's 1937 Coronation Ahead of His Grandson King Charles's

In PEOPLE's exclusive excerpt from royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith's new book, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy, the last crowning of a king is revisited

King George VI was an unlikely monarch – acceding to the throne in 1936 after the abdication of his older brother King Edward VIII, who reigned for less than a year. George VI's reign, supported by his wife Queen Elizabeth, ushered in a new, modern Windsor family (he was succeeded by his eldest daughter Queen Elizabeth II, who, upon her death last year at 96, was the longest-reigning monarch in British history). As King Charles prepares for his May 6 coronation, a new book, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy (out April 4), by renowned author Sally Bedell Smith, explores the life and reign of his beloved grandparents.

In the excerpt below, King George VI's coronation day is detailed as the monarch prepares for one of the most important events of his life — alongside his wife.

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The blare of loudspeakers being tested near Buckingham Palace jolted Bertie and Elizabeth out of bed at three a.m. on Coronation Day. Soon afterward, the sound of bands practicing prevented their return to sleep. The King was unable to eat breakfast and "had a sinking feeling inside." But having prayed with the Archbishop of Canterbury three days earlier, they were both ready to embrace the most profound religious aspects of the thousand-year-old ceremony.

The long wait at the Palace was "nerve-wracking," Bertie wrote that night, but their moment finally came when they left the forecourt at ten-thirty a.m. They traveled to the Abbey in the massive (twenty- four feet long and twelve feet high) Gold State Coach dating from 1762 and first used by King George III.

[The 8,000 guests] rose with a fanfare of trumpets for the procession of the bareheaded Queen [Elizabeth], moving at a measured pace alongside two bishops in their colorful [cloaks]. Six maids of honor wearing identical white gowns and diamond tiaras carried her outspread train, and diamonds sparkled at her throat. From high above in the triforium, forty King's Scholars from nearby Westminster School chanted, "Vivat Regina Elizabetha! Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!"

The King made an equally spectacular entrance, a slender figure with his own pair of bishops. Nine pages held his ermine-bordered train. "Vivat, Vivat Rex Georgius!" shouted the schoolboys on high. George VI looked strikingly young, almost boyish. He calmly took his place near his own Chair of Estate.

(The service lasted two and a half hours and the king's most difficult moment came when he got to his public oath. )

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Afterward he could be seen wiping his hands. Only later did he ruefully admit, "the ink got all over my fingers," but he was glad nobody appeared to notice.

In a letter to [speech coach] Lionel Logue five days later, George VI recalled his intense anxiety and shared his relief that all went well: "Not a moment's hesitation or mistake!" He thanked Logue for his "expert supervision & unfailing patience."

At eight p.m., King George VI faced the final trial of the day, his ten-minute radio address. Logue was nearby, and the King stood (not sat, as reported in the press) alone in a small room opposite his study, overlooking the quiet quadrangle in the middle of the Palace. An old desk had been retrieved from the basement and raised on blocks of wood, with two gilt microphones mounted on top.

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At nine o'clock, George VI and Elizabeth appeared again on the balcony, now floodlit. He had changed into evening dress with his blue ribbon of the Garter. She was wrapped in a white fur-trimmed cloak and wore a diamond tiara. It still rained lightly, but they remained in the blaze of illumination for several minutes, as he waved and she bowed. When they left, the crowd sang the national anthem. Yet the people demanded more. After continuous loud cheering, the royal couple came out again three more times, retiring for the night at eleven-thirty p.m.

"Bertie and E looked so well," [his mother] Queen Mary wrote, "& did it all too beautifully. . . . We were all much moved." She told her son that she felt "Papa's spirit was near us in blessing you. . . . I could not help feel- ing that poor foolish David has relinquished for nothing!!! But it is better so & better for our beloved Country."

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