Noel Coward

As the Queen departed Westminster Abbey to the shouts of "Vivat Regina!" trumpets sounded and church bells pealed. Enraptured crowds cheered as the stately coaches of seventy-four foreign powers made their way along the coronation route. Despite the downpour, Queen Salote of Tonga rode in an open carriage, the only head of state to do so. An enormous woman, she waved her huge, fleshy arms to greet bystanders and completely overshadowed the frail little man sharing her carriage.

"What's sitting across from her?" someone asked.

"Her lunch," said Noel Coward.