POPULAR TV presenter Richard Whiteley will have a leading role in a musical re-creation of the Queen's Coronation.

The Countdown star is the narrator for the special event at Guildford Cathedral on June 12 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Coronation.

Whiteley, from Burley Woodhead, will describe what was happening at the Coronation ceremony, as over 250 musicians and singers perform 20 pieces of music in the 75-minute programme.

And to mark the occasion we are offering readers the chance to win a limited edition re-print of the official Coronation souvenir programme from 1953.

It contains the full order of service and words to all the musical items along with information about the processional route and profiles of the Royal family and Archbishop of Canterbury.

We will present copies to the senders of the first ten correct entries opened after the competition closing date of Tuesday, June 2.

The programme has been produced to coincide with the celebration concert in which Whiteley shares the stage with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra the Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Wimbledon Choral Society and Trinity Boys Choir.

And audiences will hear the music as the composers intended. The NQHO musicians reject modern performance styles in favour of using Edwardian instruments to recreate the live sound of Romantic classical music.

The complete programme has been performed only once - at the Coronation itself in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.

"It's cinemascope music on a colossal scale," says John Boyden, Artistic Director of the New Queen's Hall Orchestra.

"This is the only recreation of this event that's likely to take place this year," says John Boyden.

"It's a one-off opportunity for people to respect their heritage and take part in a powerfully uplifting musical occasion."

The music is a mixture of the traditional - William Byrd's 'I will not leave you comfortless' dates from the 16th century and Handel's anthem 'Zadok the Priest' has been performed at every Coronation since George ll in 1727.

Whiteley has his his own memories of the Coronation. He said: "We watched it on our own television and asked the neighbours in.

"My father kept saying he thought the Bishop of Bath and Wells was wonderful.

"My mother thought the Queen Mother was wonderful. My sister, aged five, kept waving back at Queen Salote and I, aged nine and a half, spent the whole nine-hour broadcast working out camera positions and trying to spot camera equipment in shot."

Tickets for Guildford Cathedral 8pm on June 12, are priced £20 and £16 and are available from Guildford Tourist Information Centre, 14 Tunsgate, Guildford GU1 3QT. Tel: 01483 444333.