Royal Dresser Consulted Hollywood

Hilda Grenier is Coronation Specialist. She explains royal jewels to actress Jean Simmons.

                 

Hollywood’s ‘royal matters’ no problem for this lady 

Elizabeth is crowned. As consultant on MGM's new Technicolor romance, “Young Bess,” she viewed the rise of England's great Queen Elizabeth (played by Jean Simmons) from childhood until the death of Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) in 1558, at which time Young Bess be came queen.

Mrs. Grenier’s Royal parlay will be complete when she witnesses the Coronation of the new Elizabeth.

The latter hadn’t yet entered the world when Mrs. Grenier came to America with her husband in 1915, but she knew Elizabeth’s father, the late George VI, and her grandmother, the late Queen Mary, with whom she corresponded regularly before the latter's death.

Mrs. Grenier said that the Queen was vitally interested in the filming of the new picture, which, in addition to Miss Simmons, stars Stewart Granger, as Tom Seymour; Deborah Kerr, as Queen Catherine Parr, and Charles Laughton, as the pompous Henry.

When Mary became Queen 

Planning on being in London on June 2 for the Coronation? No? Well, don't fret about it because there's a gray-haired little lady right here in Hollywood who can give you a quick run down on the whole affair.

Hilda Grenier, in her 60s, is as enthusiastic as a teen-ager over her own approaching trip to England for the great occasion. She was there in 1902 when Edward VII was crowned, and again in 1911 when George V ascended the throne.

Now, as she puts it, “I believe I’ll be the only person to see two Elizabeths become Queen of England in a period of little more than six months.”

That rather confounding historical twist is the result of Mrs. Grenier’s present occupation as a technical consultant in Hollywood. Scarcely a motion picture Coronation scene or one of Royal pageantry is filmed these days without her being present to see that it is done correctly.

Her latest chore in this respect is what brought up the business about her seeing two Royal procession forms in the annex. “Then the procession enters the Abbey by the west door the Lord Mayor of London, foreign Royalty, Rajahs, Ladies in Waiting, diplomats, little pages, chamberlains, etc… All is confusion for a moment, then, as if by magic, comes order. A blaze of lights illuminates the walls of ageless stone, a boys choir and a great organ are heard.

“The ceremony is a tremendous emotional and religious experience. There is the lengthy Litany and Sermon,” Mrs. Grenier continued, “then, the Queen makes the first oblation at the altar, and takes the Coronation oath and is anointed by the Archbishop. Many other colorful ceremonies follow, during which she is loaded down with emblematic burdens of Monarchy. Then the Archbishop stands alone at the altar, and raises significantly and reverently in his hands, a shining, blazing object— the Crown of England. He consecrates it, raises it high above the Queen and then slowly lowers it upon her head.

“Then comes the Holy Communion, the gathering in St. Edward’s chapel and, finally, the procession leaves the Abbey, This, is when the man in the street has his hour.”

Whether inside or outside the Abbey, Mrs. Grenier says that it's a celebration that brings out goose pimples. In her 37 years in the U.S. —she's been a naturalized citizen, since 1926— she has learned that not much surprises Americans. “But,” she said, “those in London on June 2 will experience a surprise a minute. You just have to see a Coronation to be impressed by it. Words alone are not enough.”

Knowledge of Royal matters has kept her in steady demand in Hollywood. Besides “Young Bess,” she has advised on such films as “The Prisoner of Zenda,” “My Cousin Rachel,” “Gunga Din,” “Great Expectations,” “Disraeli,” “Mudlark” and “The Prince and the Pauper.” It was the last picture, incidentally, that brought her some regret. She was busily supervising a Hollywood Coronation scene when George VI received the crown in England. She hated to miss it. But in her mind’s eye, she saw everything that attended the Coronation just as she can now picture in advance all the splendorous details of Elizabeth II’s great day.

“It is always, unalterably, the same,” she said. “And that just seems to add to its greatness— the greatness of an occasion pregnant with history and hallowed by centuries. Only the faces are different.

“The real excitement actually begins from two to three weeks before the Coronation, when the highest representatives of governments and Royalty start arriving from all over the world. There is a steady stream of fetes, dinners and balls at the palaces and gala performances at the opera and the theatre. Most of London’s business streets are elaborately decorated and flags are flown at the embassies and many private homes.

“When June 2 dawns, the parade route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey will be swarming with people, many of whom have been waiting from the day before. Thousands will have paid from $25 to $85 for bleacher seats along the route.

“The biggest and most enthusiastic crowd will be gathered outside the Abbey. A great cheer will go up as the Queen approaches in the lumbering State Coach built for George III in 1761. Inside the Abbey, more than 7000 peers and peeresses will be waiting, packed tightly together in their resplendent robes.

While with Queen Mary, Mrs. Grenier was in close personal attendance to her in the executive position of an accreditedRoyal Dresser, the modern name for Keeper of the Robes. She simultaneously was trained in all branches of etiquette and protocol because of State visits to other Courts. (She has stayed in most of the old castles, palaces and great houses of Britain and Europe and, besides Coronations, has been present at every kind of Royal and social functions from baptisms and weddings, not to mention several Royal tiger and elephant hunts in India.)

The vast fund of information she has gathered, has made her probably the best informed person in the country on Royal matters. Born in Kent on Nov. 14, 1886, the same birthday as the new Elizabeth's little Prince Charles– Mrs. Grenier began training for her Court service when she was 17, at which time she was sent to the German Imperial Court as Royal Dresser to the late Duchess of Saxe Meininger, eldest granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Los Angeles Daily News, 1953

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