King Charles III coronation will be a highlight for Pat Bowman

Seventy years ago, London-born Corrimal woman Pat Bowman, 81, was invited to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and it was an opportunity too good to miss.

Her school in Islington wasn't too far from Buckingham Palace and along with other primary schoolers she was asked to grow a daffodil bulb for the new Queen ahead of her coronation.

Read more: 'Average' conditions hamper search for missing fisherman at Kiama

On June 2, 1953 it went on display as the Queen took her throne and Mrs Bowman remembers the moment like it was yesterday.

"The main thing you could see was just this blaze of daffodils from these hundreds of children," she said.

For many the coronation of a monarch is a once-in-a-lifetime event, for Mrs Bowman tonight's coronation of King Charles III will be her second.

While she won't be in London for this coronation, she'll be watching the event from her home that's filled with royal memorabilia.

Read more: Wollongong man bashed love rival found in ex's bedroom

"I love the pomp and pageantry," she said. "I think he'll make a wonderful king. He's into plants and animals, which is right up my alley.

"Kids were brought up in those days to have respect for the royal family. It was the royal family that was teaching us everything that we needed to know.

"You had your mum and dad, you had your teachers and you had the Queen and the Duke."

Shellharbour councillor Kellie Marsh will also be tuning in to watch the coronation tonight.

"It's quite exciting, I think there will be a lot of people watching on TV," she said.

"I was fortunate enough to meet Prince Charles and Camilla in Sydney and I was quite struck by him and we shared a joke together."

Cr Marsh is such a fan of the royals that, along with her neighbour, they'll be having a coronation party to mark the event.

"We'll be having a high tea, lots of English cakes and scones with jam and cream.

Coverage of the coronation will begin on TV channels in Australia between 4pm to 5pm AEST on May 6.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.