The Crowning of Everest

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1953 Britain prepares to crown a new Queen and waits to hear if Everest has been conquered

It is 1953, and Britain is preparing to crown its young Queen, Elizabeth II. The nation is also poised to hear news from Mount Everest. Has the British team made it to the top?

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The Crowning of Everest 

The Crowning of Everest: The Summit

The Summit

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Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the top of Mount Everest.

Success for the British expedition. Mount Everest is conquered, and the first men to set foot on the summit are a Sherpa and a beekeeper from New Zealand.

In 1953 the 9th British expedition to the top of Mount Everest finally reaches the summit. 

In the final team was a New Zealander and a Nepalese Sherpa.  Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay come down the mountain to a blaze of publicity.  They were soon to become the most famous men in the world.  To the team involved and the wider world the expedition was a British one, but Britain, New Zealand, Nepal and even India would lay claim to its success.  

Just as Britain was preparing Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, the world would learn that Everest itself had been crowned.

Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross

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