King Charles III coronation: Michael Portsmouth returns to his hometown to celebrate his second coronation in Fratton

Michael Portsmouth was born in Portsmouth in 1945 and was at a street party in Moorland Road, Fratton in 1953. Though no party was held on the road this time around, Michael joined the festivities at St Mary’s Church on Sunday, May 7. The church held a ‘Big Lunch’ – one of thousands nationwide – which Michael was pleased to attend.

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Recalling his first coronation experience, Michael said: ‘It was sunny – there wasn’t any rain – and it was a street party. It would be impossible to have a street party now in Moorland Road because every road around here is filled with cars.

‘Everybody was happy. How they got all the food together I don’t know because rationing was still on, but everybody contributed and all the kids ran around the street playing games.’

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Michael did not watch the ceremony itself because, as far as he knew, nobody on Moorland Road owned a television in 1953 – and hardly anybody had a car. He was given a copy of the biography ‘Elizabeth Our Queen’ by his headmaster and brought the book with him on this latest trip to Portsmouth.

Having watched King Charles III’s ceremonial crowning on Saturday, Michael added: ‘As a spectacle, it was fantastic because the country can put on a great pageant. It was very colourful and moving in some respects. This is my celebration today – to go back to Pompey 70 years on and see the change. I’m just going to relax really and think of all the memories going back 70 years and my childhood in Pompey which I thoroughly enjoyed. We used to play here, we would put our jumpers down as goal posts. Going in Kingston Rec, go up on Portsdown Hill, to the forts, Eastney, all along the seafront – it was a great little world we had, Pompey.’

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Michael has lived in Berkshire since the age of 12 when his father was invalided out from the Royal Navy. Now retired, he spent most of his career working in garden machinery manufacturing.