The two unique cotton drapes were made for the event in 1937, which was abandoned when Edward abdicated to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. It’s thought the red, white and blue 'museum quality' panels were intended for use as drapes and hangings in public buildings to mark the special occasion. But the coronation was scrapped when the king famously chose American divorcee Simpson over the Crown just 11 months into his reign in December 1936.
He had come into power following the death of his father George V in January 1936 but soon passed on the crown to his brother George VI. The dumped cuttings, bearing royal emblems and ‘VIII’, were found a in skip 63-years-ago by Terry Nash while he was walking home in Reading, Berks. At the time he was 17 and helping his mum, a member of the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service.
Terry, 80, a retired lawyer who lived in Surrey and Reading before emigrating to Auckland, New Zealand, in 1970, said: “On a rainy day in 1961 I was helping my mum with some of the more odious tasks of her voluntary work. "She was working in a regional clothing store in Government offices at Whiteknights Park. "She asked me to help her clear away reject clothing, deemed so because it was poor quality, dirty or unsuitable for baling up for shipment to refugees in countries that had suffered natural disasters.
“While standing in the skip I spotted a binder among heaps of old clothing. "I pulled it out for closer inspection, thinking it was a wallpaper.