Proud North London royalist Rita Morris thrilled to witness her third coronation

• Rita Morris spoke to ITV News London from her home in North London about witnessing royal history

A 99-year-old north Londoner who has witnessed two coronations said she was thrilled at the prospect of watching her third and wished King Charles III "a lot of luck" on the throne.

Rita Morris told ITV News London she had been a "proud royalist" nearly all her life and their "hard work should be an example to us all".

Rita was just a teenager when King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1937, a day she would never forget.

"The first coronation I witnessed was George VI and it was a very exciting time," Rita said.

"Everyone was dancing in the street and it was so different from today. There were lots of bands playing in the street and everyone was dancing.

"Singing songs like Knees Up Mother Brown, it was really, really an exciting era.

"I was living in Essex at the time and I can’t believe I’ve lived to this age of 99 and I’ve seen such changes in life," she explained.

During the Second World War Rita was living in Rochford in Essex.

She served in the Women's Land Army which played an important role in increasing Britain's food production at a time when the country's imports fell.

Many male agricultural workers had also signed up to the Armed Forces and women were needed to keep the rural workforce going.

She added: "Even though we went through the war years we enjoyed every day of it.

"We used to dance and we appreciated every day the bombs weren’t falling on us."

Rita met her husband aged 18 and got married as soon as the war was over, after which she became a mother of two children.

She remembers watching her second coronation with them on a television bought specially for the occasion.

"On Queen Elizabeth II's coronation I already had two children and we watched it in my parents’ home and it was very exciting," she said.

"My son was aged about five and my daughter about seven and we watched it. We had a big party at my mother and father’s home. It was wonderful to watch it and I’ll never forget it.

"My parents bought a TV to watch the coronation and we sat there glued to it," she explained.

The Queen’s coronation was the first time a television audience outnumbered a radio audience and it played a decisive role in boosting the popularity of the medium, as well as demand for TV sets.

The adult population of Britain in mid-1953 is estimated to have been around 35 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (based on people aged 20 and over).

This suggests that more than half of all adults in Britain saw some or all of the coronation on television.

Such a statistic becomes even more impressive when bearing in mind that not all of the country could even receive television in 1953.

The building of four high-power transmitters outside London – in the Midlands, the North of England, Scotland and Wales – had only been completed in 1952.

Rita got used to seeing royalty during her time working in a designer fashion shop in Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge.

She would often see Princess Diana whose favourite Italian restaurant San Lorenzo was next door and there were plenty of Hollywood stars too.

She added: "I had a fashion shop in Knightsbridge and I had an exciting time because I had a lot of stars like Dustin Hoffman and lots of the Dynasty cast in.

"Also, I worked next door to a famous restaurant in Beauchamp Place so when they came out of the restaurant they came into the shop. People like Shirley Bassey were coming in."

Aside from coronations Rita has witnessed many historic royal moments including the state funeral of King George V.

She remembers standing on Bayswater Road in West London on a wet day made more bearable by a kind police officer.

"I went with my parents to Bayswater Road and stood with my parents in the pouring rain to see the funeral of George V," she explained.

"A policeman was very kind and it was raining so hard he put me under his cape because we were standing in the first row in Bayswater Road to see the funeral.

"After that, we saw all the Royal Family and all the men were walking in the rain following the coffin. It’s something I will always remember," Rita added.

Rita said she still feels sad about the death of the Queen, adding: "I thought I’d go before her because I was two years older than her and it’s such a shame she was such a lovely lady. I thought she would live longer than me."

The 99-year-old said she hopes to watch the coronation of King Charles III with her family on a day none of them would forget.

She said the Royal Family were as important today as they had ever been and she was excited for the future royals.

Rita added: "I think the Royal Family is important to all of us because I think they set an example and I think if people were, like me, more a royalist it would be a better world because they really work hard.

"Every day they are working and it really is so, so hard to work every day. I worked from the day I was aged 14 to when I was 75.

"I think Prince William and Kate are wonderful examples to us and I think when he becomes King it would be lovely to think Kate will be Queen because I think they are very modern and they will do a lot for this country. I love them."

And Rita had a message for Britain's new King - wishing him every success, saying: "I would love to meet him!"

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