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Queen Elizabeth II: No British monarch has reached the 70th anniversary of the throne before the Queen
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
The corona pandemic should not spoil the 70th anniversary of the throne of the British Queen Elizabeth II: Buckingham Palace announced a series of celebrations and events in honor of the 95-year-old Queen on Monday.
Elizabeth II ascended the British throne on February 6, 1952.
The central celebrations, however, should only take place on a long weekend at the beginning of June.
The 2nd and 3rd June have been declared a public holiday.
The traditional parade for the Queen's birthday is expected to be attended by more than a thousand soldiers with horses and bands on Thursday June 2nd in central London.
The Queen's Birthday Parade will come up with "military pomp," said the palace's announcement.
According to a centuries-old tradition, people in more than 1,500 towns and villages across the country, British overseas territories and the Commonwealth of Nations will light lights that evening.
On Friday, June 3rd, there will be a thanksgiving service for the long reign of Elizabeth II in London's St. Paul's Cathedral.
On Saturday, June 4th, the BBC is organizing a live concert entitled “Platinum at the Palace” with “some of the world's greatest entertainment stars”.
On Sunday, June 5th, district and village celebrations will take place across the country as part of a “Big Jubilee Lunch”.
More than 200,000 such parties are expected.
London hosts a street festival of music, theater and circus performances, with artists from different Commonwealth countries performing.
After this extended weekend of celebration, the dress that Elizabeth II wore at her coronation will be exhibited at Windsor Castle.
A pudding for the Queen
The celebrations also include a nationwide baking competition for participants aged eight and over.
The aim is to find “a completely new pudding dedicated to the Queen”, the British variant of a full-bodied dish cooked in a mold.
The five finalists present their creation to a jury that includes the palace's head chef.
The winning creation will then also be served at the nationwide street festivals.
Before the Queen, no British monarch has reached the 70th anniversary of the throne.
There was no mention of any restrictions on the celebrations due to the corona pandemic in the announcement of the platinum anniversary celebrations.
Pandemic is raging in the UK
Great Britain is currently struggling with a new corona wave driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant. On Saturday, the number of corona deaths exceeded the threshold of 150,000. At the beginning of the year, however, Health Minister Sajid Javid declared that the country had to "try to live with Covid-19". There will only be new restrictions "as an absolute last resort."
She hopes the anniversary year will be "an opportunity for people everywhere to feel a sense of togetherness," the Queen had recently said in her Christmas address.
But the queen also showed the hardships of the past year.
The death in April of her husband, Prince Philip, to whom she was married for 73 years, had hit her hard.
In addition, there were health problems that forced Elizabeth to take it easy.
She looked serious, her cheeks much narrower than usual.
Family problems overshadow the anniversary
The anniversary year is also darkened by the anger about the second eldest son Prince Andrew, 61, who is facing a civil lawsuit over allegations of abuse in the USA.
He denies the allegations, but the damage to his reputation is significant.
And the ongoing dispute between various royals with Prince Harry, 37, and his wife Meghan, 40, burdened the royal family.
This year, of all times, Harry wants to publish his memoirs, in which further tips against the family and unwelcome details from their private life are expected.
At the 25th anniversary of the Queen's throne in 1977 there were also street festivals across the country.
There was a parade in London in which Elizabeth II took part in a carriage, and the Sex Pistols released their punk anthem, "God Save The Queen."
At the golden jubilee of the throne in 2002 there were again street parties, the 60th anniversary in 2012 was celebrated with a fleet of thousands of boats on the Thames.
ala / AFP
