Pomp and pageantry fit for the Queen
The four days of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations culminated yesterday with a splendid pageant through the streets around Buckingham Palace that fully did justice to the unique nature of this occasion.
Trooping the Colour and a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, Saturday’s concert on The Mall and the lighting of beacons around the land – all have created an extraordinary atmosphere that helped unite the nation in heartfelt tribute to a much-loved head of state.
Across the country yesterday, millions took part in what must have been the biggest collective picnic in history despite the best endeavours of the fickle June weather to put a dampener on proceedings.
The pageant, led by the gold state coach, took two hours to pass a given point. A combination of military procession, with a riotous collections of floats, displays and 8,000 performers, was a joyous, logistical triumph.
Everyone involved in delivering such an extraordinary event, from the biggest concert to the smallest picnic, deserves great credit. For many, one highlight will have been a two-and-halfminute television vignette in which the Queen had tea with Paddington Bear exhibiting a sense of fun that belied the often onerous nature of her role and endeared her even more to her people.
Even if physical impairment meant she was not seen as often as she no doubt would have liked over the long weekend, hers was nonetheless a constant presence as it has been throughout her reign.
Her loyal service over 70 years is remarkable, and the enthusiasm with which the Jubilee was celebrated was the country’s way of demonstrating how much her devotion and hard work is appreciated and the affection in which she is held.
The event also served as a showcase for the hereditary succession, with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge and his children much in evidence. The presence of the Duchess of Cornwall by Prince Charles’s side when he gave a speech in praise of Her Majesty reminded us of the latter’s wish that his wife should be Queen Consort.
As Her Majesty said in a statement marking the end of the celebrations, “When it comes to how to mark 70 years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow.” Yet her appearance on the Palace balcony before a vast crowd was a truly poignant and historic moment. The likelihood of there ever being another Platinum Jubilee is sufficiently minuscule for everyone to know that we have been involved in an event that will live long in the national memory.