Let’s Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee Begin!
Today we are celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th coronation anniversary.
The Platinum Jubilee will last 4 days. 4 days of partying around England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Commonwealth, and the World!
When I was little, my grand mother who was born in 1906 introduced my to the British Royal Family, among others. She had a special admiration towards the Queen Mother, probably because of her courage during WW2, and also because she was just 6 years older than her. So Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother stood as an example to her. Indeed she naturally get interested into the entire Family. And when I went to UK alone for the first time she gave me a picture she had kept for so long and told me to give it to Her Majesty if ever I met Her. The picture was taken from a newspaper and glued on a piece of cardboard, so that it wouldn’t be damaged. It represented Queen Elizabeth and her daughters, the then Princess Elizabeth and Her sister Princess Margaret, and was taken on 15 December 1936 by photograph Marcus Adams. Imagine how long she kept it with her!
It seemed so precious I kept it with me, whether I was at home or abroad until my grand mother’s death in 1997. Then just before she died I wrote a long letter to Her Majesty joining the picture so that I could fulfill my promise (indeed, as you can imagine, even if I could closely see some members of the Royal Family, I never really met them and even less Her Majesty). Her Majesty had me sent a very kind letter in response to thank me, but it was to late to show it to my grand mother.
This is just to say Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth had, has and will always have a very special place into my heart and in my family… my daughter Victoria is already able to recognise Her at any age, and shares a special bond to Princess Charlotte who was born just 3 weeks before. It seems the torch has been passed to the 4th generation!
So let’s celebrate The Queen the entire world have known for 3 generations!
This Platinum Jubilee will then last 4 days, from June 2nd to June 5th.
The Queen’s Birthday Parade will be held on Thursday 2nd June 2022 starting at 11am. The colour will be trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division will put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade, together with hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses. This annual event has now marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.
During the Queen’s birthday parade A Royal Gun Salute will be fired.
There will be an impressive Flypast to coincide with the Royal Family’s balcony appearance.
The United Kingdom’s long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations with the lighting of beacons will continue for the Platinum Jubilee.
A beacon chain, once used as a tool for communication, has now become a symbol of unity across towns, borders, countries and continents and is often the central point of focus for any outdoor gathering or celebration. In 1897, beacons were lit to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. In 1977, 2002 and 2012, beacons commemorated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of The Queen, and in 2016 Her Majesty’s 90th birthday. Over 1,500 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.
The Principal beacon, involving The Tree of Trees (a 21m high ‘tree’ constructed of 350 smaller trees), will be lit in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace at 9pm.
There are three kinds of beacon events:
– Community Beacons – thousands of beacons will be lit by communities, charities and different groups throughout the regions of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.
– Commonwealth Beacons – beacons will be lit in all capital cities of the Commonwealth – 54 in total.
– Principal Beacon – to be lit on the 2nd June in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
On Friday 3rd June 2022, a Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Great Paul, the largest church bell in the country, will be rung for the Service. It was made in 1882, but fell silent in the 1970s due to a broken mechanism. It was restored in 2021 and has been rung on 8 occasions since, but this is the 1st royal occasion it will be rung.
On Saturday 4th June 2022, Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by Members of the Royal Family, will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs.
Then Hosts Kirsty Young and Roman Kemp will lead live coverage of the Platinum Party at the Palace and air live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and across the BBC network. The celebration will see famous faces from the world of entertainment brought together to perform for a night of musical tributes to celebrate the Jubilee. 22,000 people will attend the event including 10,000 allocated in a public ballot and 5,000 tickets for key workers.
On Sunday 5th June 2022, Over 60k people have registered to host Big Jubilee Lunches on the Platinum celebration weekend, with events ranging from world record attempts for the longest street party to back garden BBQ’s and everything in between. Over ten million people across the UK are expected to be joining the celebrations to share friendship, food and fun at Big Jubilee Lunches as part of this nationwide act of community friendship. People across the world are also joining in with over 600 international Big Jubilee Lunches being planned throughout the Commonwealth and beyond – from Canada to Brazil, New Zealand to Japan and South Africa to Switzerland.
Finally, The Gold State Carriage, led by The Sovereign’s Escort, will lead the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, embracing the latest in digital technology to evoke the excitement and majesty of her journey to be crowned 70 years ago.
The Pageant will serve as an opportunity to gather and pay tribute to Her Majesty. It will culminate with the singing of the National Anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’ and a gospel choir to the sounds of the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.
The Pageant will bring to life iconic moments from The Queen’s reign as well as showcasing our changing society over the past 70 years.
10,000 people are involved, including the military, over 6,000 volunteers, performers, key workers and 2,500 members of the general public.
People from all over the UK and across the Commonwealth are giving their time and creativity to build this event and celebrate this momentous occasion. Communities across the UK will find a connection to the ‘People’s Pageant’.
National treasures and iconic figures from music, film, sport and the arts will take part in the Pageant including much-loved celebrity names, alongside military personnel, key workers and volunteers.
Enjoy yourself!
God Save The Queen!
Source : www.royal.uk/platinum-jubilee-central-weekend
