World’s troubles seemed so far away for a magical tribute to our Queen
Even Her Majesty seemed to be taken aback by the outpouring of love on this special day down The Mall
‘She has done an amazing job. Who would want to do that for 70 years? It’s just magnificent’
Stepping out on to the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the Queen summed up in one word the scene that met her eyes. “Incredible!” With three previous jubilees, several Royal weddings, VE Day and a coronation behind her, the sight of a flag-waving throng filling The Mall might be familiar, yet Her Majesty always seems to be the one person taken aback by the response of the British people.
“Look at that!” she said to the Prince of Wales, as she stood surrounded by four generations of her family. “It really is the most wonderful sight,” the heir to the throne replied.
It certainly was. For the first time since Covid robbed us of such magical events, the entire nation had a chance to come together in celebration, and nothing unites the country quite like the Queen.
Bathed in sunshine, central London was overtaken by a red, white and blue outpouring of patriotism, excitement and sheer joy. By 9am the crowds lining The Mall stood 25 deep, just to catch a glimpse of the Royal family on horseback and in carriages as they took part in Trooping the Colour.
Unless they were unusually tall, those at the back would see very little, and with the Queen confined to Buckingham Palace she would be a mere dot of blue in the far distance when she took the salute from the balcony. It didn’t matter to any of them, who just wanted to be part of the Platinum Jubilee and who will always be able to say: “I was there.”
Hillary Mathews, from Hertfordshire, was a case in point. “Being five foot one, I don’t suppose I’ll see much,” she said before the event began. “But it’s just being here with the crowds, it’s just lovely to be somewhere where there are nice people.”
Ms Mathews, whose life, at the age of 70, has exactly coincided with the Queen’s reign, said: “Everybody has got the same mission – all the horrors that’s been going on in the world and in England at the moment are put behind us for a day, and we can just enjoy really celebrating the Queen.
“She has done an amazing job. Who would want to do that for 70 years? It’s just magnificent.”
Many people, perhaps the Queen included, might have started to wonder if days like this had been consigned to a bygone era.
Only last year, Trooping the Colour, the Queen’s official birthday celebration, had to be held within the
confines of Windsor Castle, with the Queen sitting in a quadrangle to watch an event which had been pared back because of coronavirus restrictions.
But as the crowds began to build from soon after dawn, filling Green Park and St James’s Park either side of The Mall, the atmosphere had that special quality that only comes with Royal celebrations. Where else in the world would so many people gather to witness something so fleeting with such inexhaustible enthusiasm?
Some in the crowd had brought champagne, but in reality this was the Britain of tea and cakes, of sandwiches and scones, of Union flags, of queues and of weather. Few would have been immune to thoughts of just how eccentric the whole occasion was, steeped in pageantry and symbolism that is a mystery to most. But it is also part of our national psyche, and at a time when the shadow of war has once more fallen across Europe, it was a chance to reflect on the blessed good fortune of living in a nation whose tone is set by a great-grandmother driven by duty at the age of 96.
Duty is what united 7,000 members of the Armed Forces family who filled the temporary grandstands opposite Buckingham Palace to see the Queen and to represent the Royal British Legion, whose patron is Her Majesty.
Trooping the Colour is, after all, a military event, even in a jubilee year, making it doubly important to anyone who fought for Queen and country.
Among them was Michael Delucia, a
‘It was a great honour and emotional. Because I knew Prince Philip, it made today even more special. He would have loved to be here today’
‘Wow, Dad, that was Prince Charles ... Was that really Prince William with Charles on the horse?’
never forget it. My favourite part was seeing the Queen, it was a great honour and it was emotional. Because I knew Prince Philip, it made today even more special, he would have loved to be here today.”
In the absence of the Queen, whose restricted mobility meant she took the salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it was up to the Prince of Wales to represent the monarch on Horse Guards Parade.
The Prince, now 73, watched the ceremony on horseback, dressed in Welsh Guards tunic and bearskin as the sun beat down. Later in the day, he jokingly described the experience as “quite warm” as he spoke briefly to wellwishers in the crowd.
Also in the saddle were the Princess Royal and the Duke of Cambridge, while other royals had travelled to Horse Guards in three open coaches.
Some of the children in the crowd were taken aback by what they saw.
“Wow, Dad, that was Prince Charles,” said one surprised little boy.
“Was that really Prince William with Charles on the horse?” asked another.
Those gathered around the parade ground could chart the Royal family’s progress from the cheers as they made their way down The Mall.
In a room behind them were the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, together with the Queen’s great-grandchildren and other members of the family, including the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Once the parade ground section of Trooping the Colour was over, it was time for the moment the crowd had really been waiting for as the Queen, who had been watching the events on television, prepared to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Many in the crowd spoke of the Platinum Jubilee being a “once in a lifetime experience”, and while there have been jubilees in the past, no monarch has ever reached platinum before, and reaching an Oak Jubilee (as 80th anniversaries are disappointingly called) may be beyond even her.
Having appeared on the balcony once to take the salute from the Household Division, the Queen, wearing tinted spectacles, made a second appearance just before 1pm to watch a flypast of more than 70 military aircraft, accompanied by her close family members.
With her on the balcony were the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their two children, the Princess Royal and Vice-admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
Notably absent were the Duke of York, after testing positive for Covid, and of course the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who no longer support the Queen in her official duties.
There were three cheers for the Queen from the crowd below, and The Mall was turned into half a mile of waving flags, stretching all the way back to Trafalgar Square. Some people
were in tears. If future generations want to know what the Queen meant to the people of this country, they need only study this day.
By midday the crowds unable to get near The Mall had filled the green around Wellington Arch, behind Buckingham Palace, with thousands more crowded into Hyde Park, where they made do with watching an 82-gun salute fired by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, named by the monarch’s father King George VI, 75 years ago this year. None complained.
Lip reader Kate Evans said that as a formation of 15 Typhoons formed the number 70, the Queen said: “Seventy! That’s very clever, that must have taken a lot of practice.”
As the Red Arrows approached, she told her great-grandson Prince Louis: “Here come the Arrows. Look at that smoke! That really was wonderful.”
Then, when the last of the 70 aircraft passed out of view, the Queen gave a final wave and, though no one could hear her, told the watching world: “Thank you very much.”