John Betjeman was born and brought up in North London. He began writing poetry at school and continued at Oxford, where he made the acquaintance of the poets W.H. Auden and Louis MacNiece. He developed a strong interest in architecture and was a founder member of the Victorian Society in 1958. In 1960 he was awarded The Queen's Medal for Poetry and in 1972 he was appointed Poet Laureate. Betjeman was already a well-known figure due to his regular appearances on television and this appointment ensured his poetry, written in a humorous and accessible style, reached a very wide audience.

Both Cecil Day Lewis and John Betjeman wrote poems for the Investiture of the future King Charles III as Prince of Wales in 1969. Day Lewis's offering follows the traditional form of Poet Laureate occasional odes, with abstract and beautiful symbolic language, and calls for celebration.

On the other hand, Betjeman's offering, first published in 1974, perhaps demonstrates the ways in which the role of the laureate has changed in recent times. His language is more familiar and affectionate; he recounts his direct memories of the event of investiture. Even the form of Betjeman's poem is less formal, what he called a 'kind of rhyming letter'. He writes:

'Earl marshal leads the victims in.
The Royal Family waits alone.
Now television cameras whirr
Like cats at last induced to purr.'

As the Royal Family has become more approachable, through their changing societal roles, and the increased use of modern media, so the Laureate's role has changed too. Betjeman's poem is remarkable for its affectionate, amusing and very human description of a Royal ceremony.

This presentation copy of the poem has been written out by the calligrapher Anne Hechle (b.1939), a personal friend of Betjeman, in black with blue initials, and is bound in marbled paper. It was presented to Queen Elizabeth by Betjeman in 1977.