U.K. to celebrate the queen
Britain is getting ready for a party featuring mounted troops, solemn prayers — and a pack of dancing mechanical corgis.
The nation will celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’S 70 years on the throne this week with four days of pomp and pageantry in central London. But behind the brass bands, street parties and a planned appearance by the queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace lies a drive to show that the royal family still remains relevant after seven decades of change.
“The monarchy is not elected, so the only way in which a monarch can demonstrate consent is not through the ballot box, but through people turning out on the streets,” said Robert Lacey, historical adviser on “The Crown” series. “And if the monarch turns up on the balcony and waves and there’s no one there, that’s a pretty definitive judgment on the monarchy.
“Well, when it comes to Elizabeth, the opposite has been the case. People can’t wait to mass and cheer together,” he added.
The jubilee is an opportunity for the royals to demonstrate their commitment to change and diversity, something the queen has embodied as she traveled the world over the last 70 years, said Emily Nash, royal editor of HELLO! magazine.
“She’s been everywhere and she has engaged with people from all walks of life, from all creeds and colors and faiths,” Nash said. “I think it’s easy to see, in the sort of pomp and pageantry, perhaps more of a lack of diversity. But if you look at what the royal family actually do, the people they engage with, the places they go to, I think it’s perhaps a little unfair to say that it’s not as diverse as it could be.”
The question for the House of Windsor is whether the public will
transfer their love for the queen to her son and heir, Prince Charles, when the time comes.
Since assuming the throne after the death of her father on Feb. 6, 1952, Elizabeth has been a symbol of stability.
The shy woman with a small handbag, a trailing corgi and passion for horses presided over an era that spawned Monty Python, the Beatles and the Sex Pistols. People who thought they knew her thought wrong — as evidenced by her star turn as a Bond Girl at the 2012 London Olympics.
Yet through it all, the queen has built a bond with the nation.
The past two years have highlighted the monarchy’s strengths as the queen alternately consoled a nation isolated by COVID -19 and thanked doctors and nurses battling the disease.
But its frailties were also on display as the 96-year-old monarch buried her husband and was slowed by health problems. That came amid the public tensions with Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, who made allegations of racism and bullying in the royal household, and the allegations about Prince Andrew’s links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Against this backdrop, the jubilee is also part of the effort to prepare the public for the day when Charles takes the throne. Now 73, Charles has spent much of his life preparing to be king and battling a somewhat stuffy image that wasn’t helped by his ugly divorce from Princess Diana.
But don’t expect the queen to leave the scene any time soon.
Robert Hardman, biographer and author of “Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II” said he expects to see an even bigger party four years from now when Elizabeth turns 100.