Delight at the Queen’s special Jubilee year
The official day marking The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on the throne was 6th February but Sussex will be celebrating in earnest, alongside the rest of the Country, over three days in early June with beacons to be lit, street parties to be enjoyed and Sussex Sparkling to be drunk!
Seventy years is quite remarkable and Her Majesty has committed her life to her Country, as she undertook in her Coronation speech at Westminster Abbey on June 2 1953 where every Monarch since 1066 has been crowned.
The Coronation was a year after her father, George VI, died, as a mark of respect.
The Queen, and Prince Philip, last visited Sussex together on October 31 2013 with visits to West Quays fisheries in Newhaven, Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes, YHA South Downs Hostel near Newhaven
and ending with Her Majesty opening The Keep Records Office near Falmer. Since then, the Queen visited Chichester Festival Theatre and Canine Partners in Midhurst on November 30, 2017.
My Office of High Sheriff is over 1,000 years old and its principle relevance today is to lend support to Law and Order in West Sussex on behalf of The Queen.
I have met so many dedicated people (employees and volunteers) who work in the various areas of Law and Order and many different charities.
Each visit reminds me how lucky we all are to live in a democracy with the Queen as Head of State giving the Country an important sense of stability and tradition.
My first encounter with the Queen was when I was nine. David Linley was in my class at school and the Queen decided to visit her nephew.
We were told to go about our day as normal but if we came across the Queen as she was being given a tour of the school by the headmaster, we were to stand to attention. I ‘bumped into’ her in a corridor and stood as instructed.
I had won a prize for being good at maths (first and last prize I won!) and the Queen was interested to know what the badge stood for.
I remember the encounter like it was yesterday and her warmth and interest in every individual.
A wonderful way to honour the Queen this year is to plant a tree, if at all possible.
This, as we are all aware, is positive for the environment and joins in with her initiative called The Queen’s Green Canopy.
If you have or will be planting please register your tree at https://queensgreencanopy.org. Sussex is the second most wooded county in the British Isles but there is room for many more.
In my opinion, we all owe the Queen a deep sense of gratitude for the seventy years she had dedicated to us all in her dominatable, unwavering fashion.
Some years have been easier than others but she has kept looking forward and shown incredible leadership (spanning over 14 Prime Ministers), discretion, support and the spread of happiness and respect wherever she goes.
Three cheers to the Queen on the momentous, happy occasion of her Platinum Jubilee!