On 12th May 2010 the Mass Observation Archive repeated the 1937 call for people from all parts of the UK to record, in a diary, everything that they did on 12th May.

12th May 1937 was the day of George VI’s Coronation and many people wrote about being involved in this national event. Seventy three years later, we expected 12th May to be a very ordinary day. As it happened it was the first day of the new coalition government and the resulting diaries provide a glimpse into everyday life on this date.

Inspired by the 1937 diaries, the Brighton Festival invited Margaret Drabble, Philippe Sands, and Oona King to keep track of their 12th May. Their diaries were then read out at an event at the Pavilion Theatre in Brighton on the 23rd May 2010. These diaries are now stored in the Archive along with the other submissions.

A selection of quotes from the diaries is on show in the presentation below. The full diaries are available to consult in the Special Collections department at the University of Sussex.