Coronation of King George VI, London, England,

May 12, 1937

In 1937, Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in order to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson. The subsequent coronation of his brother George VI and the royal procession through London was a massive spectacle broadcast on radio and television. Cartier-Bresson turned his attention to the crowds that thronged the streets to see the procession. In his words, "People had waited all night in Trafalgar Square in order not to miss any part of the coronation ceremony of George VI. . . . The next morning, one who was wearier than the others, had not yet wakened to see the ceremony for which he had kept such a late vigil."