Crowds’ enthusiasm undimmed after days on Mall in flimsy tents
How to sum up the extraordinary air of expectation on The Mall in the run-up to the Platinum Jubilee Pageant? Even in the erratic weather. Even in the wake of so much flag-waving pomp and circumstance. Even after days of sleeping in flimsy tents on the cold, hard pavement.
“I don’t need a tent. I’ve got a yoga mat and a sleeping bag,” declared pensioner Elizabeth Ellis, 73, who travelled from Manchester to London on Friday afternoon and was looking forward to the parade. “So what if there’s a downpour? God made us waterproof, didn’t he?”
At the risk of committing lèse majesté, that’s just the sort of thing we could imagine our headscarved Queen saying briskly to insipid house guests as she strode off through the heather at Balmoral in more mobile times.
A former bus driver-turned-small business owner, Elizabeth’s earliest memory is of her royal namesake’s coronation in 1953, when she was four.
“We had a street party and I remember the details so vividly; the wonderful food, the tables down the middle of the road and then the children were loaded into a bus and driven around to see all the murals.”
Like so many others in the crowd, Elizabeth’s devotion to Her Majesty was shot through with admiration for her steadfastness. “She’s a wonderful woman; people love her because she has such dignity and quiet strength.”
Fortitude of a different sort was required for those who braved the intermittent drizzle and gusting winds to stay the course over the four-day Bank Holiday weekend in anticipation of this afternoon’s grand finale.
There have been moments of pure joy – how else to describe that heady feeling when a delphic Queen not given to displays of emotion suddenly smiles in gratitude at her adoring subjects?
Moments too of secret delight; dare we admit how pleasing it was to see the Duchess of Sussex relegated to the proverbial children’s table, consigned to watching the action from a window with the little ones while the bona fide Royal family waved from the balcony? Or how about that glimpse of Princess Eugenie’s new tattoo?
And of course there was comedy provided by winsome Prince Louis, aged four, who covered his ears and pulled a face in his Christopher Robin sailor suit as Typhoons roared overhead. Sparky Princess Charlotte also provided a star turn, surreptitiously peering forensically deep into Camilla’s handbag.
But for all the elegant millinery and designer finery of the front-row royals, introspection was impossible to keep entirely at bay. Her Majesty was absent from Friday’s service and did not attend her beloved Epsom Derby on Saturday, a poignant reminder that regardless of full-throated renditions of the National Anthem, at the age of 96, she will not long reign over us.
All the more reason, then, to ensure this jubilee weekend would go out on a high. As the countdown began to this afternoon’s jamboree, the enthusiasm of the Queen’s superfans was undimmed. Brother and sister Sam Warner, 52 and Lee Barfield, 37, who work at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, wore their Queen Elizabeth II masks with pride.
“It’s brilliant to celebrate the monarchy and being British,” said Sam. “The pageant will be the crowning glory; 70 years of history with celebrities and circus acts will be unmissable.”
Jennie Miles, 55, a nursery practitioner from Kent was looking forward to seeing the Queen’s four-ton gold state coach rumble through the streets. As it is famously uncomfortable, Her Majesty will most assuredly not be travelling in it.
“Who is going to be riding in the coach?” demanded Jennie. “I hope it’s William and Kate – they are real winners with the crowd.”
As indeed were Jennie and her two companions. Their Union Flag leggings were a sight to behold, variously teamed with jubilee t-shirts, Union Flag earrings and red-white-and-blue scrunchies. Their foldaway chairs and tents were plastered in Union Flags.
In truth, the whole panorama had to be seen to be believed. Husband and wife Dale and Michelle Simpson, Tesco managers from Norfolk, were dressed down – or possibly up – for the occasion. He wore union flag braces and bow tie while she sported a red, white and blue wig and wore a miniature hat. “It’s amazing to be here celebrating our shared history together,” said Michelle. “We need this sort of positivity right now.”
At the very front by the barriers sat Donna Warner, 70, from Connecticut, who had flown in for the jubilee weekend – as she does for most royal occasions. “I have to confess my very favourite royal is controversial,” she adds. “Camilla. I loved Diana so much that once, when Camilla came to the US to visit the United Nations, I protested with a placard telling her to go home. Now, I think she is absolutely fabulous and I think the Queen sees that she is so good for Charles and will support him in the years to come.”
That’s the unspoken truism at the heart of these celebrations. They honour our extraordinary, benevolent Queen for her 70 years’ service but alongside the commemoration of legacy must exist an acknowledgement of succession. As today’s pageant no doubt thrills, moves and inspires us, the Kingdom is United in its respect and affection for our unique monarch. In celebrating the past we must look to the future and judging by the joyful crowds today, it seems very much that Britain’s loyalty to royalty will endure.