Jubilee boost

sir – On Saturday I came across the tail end of the rehearsal for the Queen’s Jubilee Trooping the Colour ceremony. All along the Mall, excited crowds had amassed. Many were from the UK but most were foreign tourists.

The sight of sparkling breastplates, bobbing scarlet uniforms, flashes of white plumes and shiny bay horses, together with the sounds of massed bands, clip-clopping hooves, marching boots and marching orders, reminded me of the very best that Britain has to offer. The pageantry and history on show were impressive, evidence that we have much to boast about and enjoy.

The dullness and negativity of the past couple of years were dispelled in an instant. I thought of how selfcritical and ground down we’ve become, and felt tears welling. Veronica Timperley

London W1

sir – This week, London’s West End has been (thankfully) extremely busy with tourists here for the Jubilee celebrations. There have been long queues in major stores of people paying for their Jubilee souvenirs.

On closer inspection, I noticed that many of the products were made in China, which seems a bit perverse. Kelvin Trott

London SW1

sir – I am sure many will support Linden Porter’s idea (Letters, May 30) that people should litter-pick in the run-up to the Jubilee weekend. In 2016 we had “Clean for the Queen”. How about: “Litter-free for the Jubilee”? George Atkinson-clark

Lidlington, Bedfordshire

sir – Older readers may have memories of the Queen’s coronation in 1953. I recall waiting for an Underground train, only to find the carriage full of the nobility in their robes, as central London roads were still closed.

A friendly duke moved up for me to sit down and explained that he had put sandwiches inside his coronet as he remembered being hungry at George VI’S coronation. I held his train while we walked along the dirty platform and he hobbled in his satin buckled shoes with heels.

I will never forget the sight of the up escalator, with each peer holding the ermine-and-velvet train of the one in front.

Jenny Selby-green

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire