On Sunday, which was the 5th of June, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II brought an end to her historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations. She made a rare public appearance on the final four days of festivities. She also vowed to maintain her record-breaking reign.
Problems tagged this 96-year-old monarch while walking and standing. For the first time, she appeared in person since two showings on Thursday on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the Trooping the Colour military parade.
Due to this, she had to exit a Thanksgiving church service on Friday. She also had to pull herself out of the Epsom Derby horse race and a star-studded concert on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, she came to light onto the balcony down the mall outside the palace.
Huge crowds gathered to have a glimpse of her. It was followed by a public parade reflecting changes in music, dance, fashion, culture and society since she came to the throne way back in 1952.
Now, what was she dressed in? She wore green clothes with a matching hat. Her white gloved hand clutched a walking stick and the three future kings: princes Charles, William and George flanked her.
The monarch issued a statement shortly after, saying that she had been “humbled and deeply touched” by the turnout for her Platinum Jubilee celebrations and “inspired by the kindness, joy and kinship that has been so evident in recent days”.
The longest-serving sovereign of Britain also said, “While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family.”
After that, she went on to describe how it started. According to her, Sunday’s £15-million ($18.7-million, 17.5-million-euro) “Platinum Jubilee Pageant”, featuring some 10,000 people, began with a parade of armed forces from the U.K. and the Commonwealth.
The celebration of her record-breaking reign was unique. Her hologram was projected onto the sovereign’s 260-year-old Gold State Coach. About 6,000 disabled and non-disabled performers from street theatre, carnival and puppetry joined in to celebrate the queen’s life and reign.
An aerial artist suspended under a vast helium balloon, known as a heliosphere, bearing the sovereign’s image was one of the highlights of the show.
The carnival included a giant oak tree flanked with maypole dancers, a huge moving wedding cake, bhangra drummers, steel bands, plus African-Caribbean carnival animals and a towering dancing dragon.
There was a royal box, Prince Charles kept his four-year-old grandson Prince Louis entertained. He kept bouncing him on his knees to the rhythm of the music. Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran also came to the show. He wrapped up the pageant with a rendition of his 2017 hit ” Perfect”, and the national anthem “God Save the Queen”.
Elsewhere across the country, people went giddy with joy. More than 10 million people must have ignored overcast skies and gone out to share food with friends, family and neighbours to mark the occasion.
Due to this occasion, there were two public holidays announced on Thursday and Friday. Along with that, there were facilities for longer pub opening hours, street parties and other events. These temporarily lifted the gloom of soaring inflation and political turmoil plus two years of enforced COVID closures.
Many saw it as a once-in-a-generation event to mark the closing of an extraordinary chapter in British life. They also made an attempt to recognise its most famous national symbol. On Saturday night, Queen Elizabeth put in a surprise on-screen appearance. During that period, she had tea with the beloved children’s book and film character Paddington Bear.
In the pre-recorded video, she tapped out the drumbeat of the rock band Queen’s “We Will Rock You” — the concert’s opening number — on a fine china teacup and saucer to get the party started. There was a peak of 13.4 million viewers watching the concert on television according to the BBC.
The queen previously made a cameo with James Bond actor Daniel Craig for the opening of the London 2012 Olympics. A running theme has been the dramatic social, political and technological changes in Britain and the world since the queen came to the throne with her constant presence through it all.
With Charles now 73, the next jubilee — probably for his eldest son Prince William’s 25th year on the throne — could be at least 50 years away. “Elizabeth has been the queen my whole life,” said an American of 66, John Barli. “She’s the world’s grandmother as far I’m concerned,” he told the Sunday Times.
But there was also an acknowledgement that the second Elizabethan era — five centuries after the first — is nearly over. There was a spectacular light show that illuminated the palace and the night sky above it on Saturday, including images of a corgi, a handbag and a teapot.
One message said simply: “Thank you, Ma’am.” Headlined by Diana Ross, the Sunday Telegraph said of Saturday’s concert as inevitably having a valedictory feel about it. “But there is also the keen awareness that we will never see the likes of this monarch again,” she added.
“It won’t be the same without our Queen Elizabeth,” Julie Blewitt, 56, from Manchester, told AFP outside St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday. “It’s such a shame she won’t be here for much longer.” The Observer weekly called it “part of a long goodbye that began with her solitary attendance at Prince Philip’s funeral last year”.
The Queen has gradually been preparing the public for the familiar figure of Prince Charles to take over as king. In a message on Wednesday, she said that the jubilee was “an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.”
However, the institution that Prince Charles and, after him, Prince William will run will be different from the one Elizabeth inherited in the aftermath of World War II. At that time, Britain was still a major colonial power.
But republican movements are gathering pace in the 14 Commonwealth countries where the queen is also head of state, including Australia and in the Caribbean.
