West Midlands Lord-Lieutenant talks family and honour as he attends coronation

The Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands Sir John Crabtree was one of the many dignitaries in attendance at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III, joining his colleagues from around the country.

Sir John's attendance at the coronation also brought back his own memories of Queen Elizabeth's own coronation in 1953, where another member of the Crabtree family had been an invited member of the congregation.

He said: "The coronation carries good memories for me as my grandfather, Reverend Herbert Crabtree, was a humble and intellectual man and what he saw in his life led him to the church.

"He joined the Unitarian faith, which was nonconformist and quite big in Birmingham in those days and, by 1953, he was head of the church, so was invited to the coronation.

"I still have his invitation from that time and like to compare it to the one I received as he was a a very quiet and humble man and I have a lot of respect for him."

Sir John said he and the other Lord-Lieutenants would be sat somewhere in the Abbey among the other dignitaries and said he was looking forward to seeing someone he had worked with over the years enjoy his moment.

He said: "I have known the King for many years and seen him come to the region on a number of occasions, especially last summer during the Commonwealth Games, which I was chair of.

"He has been a presence here on a number of occasions, most notably during the Covid Vaccine roll out, when he came to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham at the start of the roll out.

"He was very good that day, talking to all the people who would be inoculated, all the nurses and all the staff and they were all quite emotional as it was nice of him to do and very special."

Sir John said events like the coronation helped people to come together and celebrate their communities.

He said: "We live in a different world to 70 years ago, but if there is a moment when, as a nation, we just come together and have a smile on our faces, we can achieve anything and that really is speical."