The 70-year reign of the record-breaking Platinum Jubilee of 96-year-old Elizabeth II
is an epochal milestone to be celebrated, for millions of subjects and admirers, with the public highlights of the anniversary starting at this time on the island as in other related territories. to the crown.
The four days of extra national holiday
, scheduled from 2 to 5 June at the peak of the collective homage to the irreducible daughter of King George VI, are upon us;
and the preview is taken, while the streets and landmarks of London are already adorned with flags, large bunting festoons, sumptuous floral decorations that reflect the colors of the Union Jack, the very image of Her Majesty and various insignia of the monarchy across the Channel.
As an introduction to this latest Royal Show it is possible to visit the Superbloom, a hymn to the jubilee in the form of a triumph of flowers and plants set up around the Tower of London.
Platinum Jubilee, eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth screened on Stonehenge
The Royal Family
in the meantime it is ready to meet in the capital and then to spread out in the four nations of the Kingdom for the occasional appointments organized in all the localities, large and small.
While there are initiatives in the Commonwealth countries, a remnant of what was the British Empire inherited by Elizabeth on the premature death of her father in February 1952, after the ceremonial visits of the past few weeks delegated here and there around the globe to the eternal heir to throne Charles with his wife Camilla, to William (second in line of succession) with Kate, or again to the princes Anna and Edoardo: the first surviving line of a family recently crippled by the exclusion from any representative role of the third son of Queen Andrew (involved in the Epstein sex scandal),
The official
London program in every way foresees the real kick-off on Thursday 2, with a special edition of the Trooping the Color parade in front of Buckingham Palace, to the sound of the passage of 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians, as well as the overflight of the Red Arrows, the aerobatic team of the RAF, which the sovereign is expected to watch from the balcony of the palace alongside a line of leaders of the royal family limited to "active service members".
Friday 3 will then be the day of an ad hoc thanksgiving liturgy in St. Paul's Cathedral for Elizabeth's long reign, as monarch and head of the Anglican Church: a circumstance that this time should also see the highly anticipated Harry and Meghan (in visit to the island from the American golden refuge with the little ones Archie and Lilibet Diana) in a moment of possible rapprochement with the Windsor house after the traumatic tear of 2020 and the controversies that followed.
And on Saturday 4 June there will be the Platinum Party, animated - always around Buckingham Palace - by a procession of 5,000 street artists, actors, musicians, circus acrobats;
with the seal of a concert-tribute to the sovereign of British and world stars (from Sir Elton John, Diana Ross, Duran Duran and Andrea Bocelli to the news of Mabel, George Ezra or Sam Ryder).
Until the "popular" epilogue on Sunday 5th entrusted to the
Big Jubilee Lunch
, with banquets in public gardens and festivals throughout the country.
Day in which the park of Windsor Castle will host "the largest picnic table in the world" (500 meters for 1,600 duly booked 'common' guests);
and other royal residences will be open to visitors, from Sandringham (Norfolk, England) to Balmoral (Scotland).
While the traditional closing bell of the island's pubs will be extended from 11pm to 1am to allow everyone to toast once again to Elizabeth the long-lived rock of the nation: singing more or less sober God save the Queen.