Elizabeth II, the Unbreakable, celebrates 70 years of reign at the height of her popularity

History has been repeated ad nauseam, but it is irresistible to tell it again. On the night of February 5, 1952, Princess Elizabeth, 25, and her husband, Philip of Edinburgh, 30, were sleeping on the top of a gigantic fig tree in Aberdare National Park, Kenya. It was the first stage of a long tour of the couple through several of the Commonwealth countries. "For the first time in human history, a young woman climbed a tree as a princess and came down the next day as a queen," wrote British naturalist Jim Corbett, who was staying at the same hotel at the time. This Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of the reign of Elizabeth II (London, 95 years old), who acceded to the throne outside the United Kingdom, upon learning of the death of her father, George VI, on another continent.

He would spend a year until the coronation, in Westminster Abbey, out of respect for the mourning of a king loved by his countrymen. Neither father nor daughter had such a rigid and unalterable destiny in their vital plans, but the decision of Edward VIII to abdicate, for his love for the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, imposed on his brother and niece the unappealable obligation to reign over the British. . And the sense of duty of both endowed the task with an almost imperceptible naturalness. In this sense, they were the first to configure on the fly what a constitutional and democratic Monarchy should be in the modern era. Not a deviation in the necessary neutrality; nor an excess in the boring stability of the institution. “The Queen has perfectly fulfilled the idea of ​​appearing as someone who is above party politics,and that it does not interfere with the government of the country”, said historian Cindy McCreery, from the University of Sydney. Australia has experienced its particular push and pull with the idea of ​​continuing to be a monarchy, but the affection of the citizens towards the sovereign has always ended up prevailing.

Isabel II preserves a popularity far superior to that of the rest of the members of the British royal family.

76% of citizens have a positive view of her and her reign, according to the

that the YouGov polling company has maintained for years.

The relevant thing is that, according to that same sound, the queen's popularity among the millennial generation

(from 26 to 40 years old) is 65%.

Among

(ages 55-75), approval is 86%.

The United Kingdom will mark as a national holiday the bridge between Thursday, June 2 and Sunday, June 5.

will be brought forward to that Thursday

, which normally takes place on the second Saturday of June and serves to officially celebrate the monarch's birthday (although her real date of birth is April 21).

1,400 soldiers, 400 military musicians and 200 horses will parade down The Mall, the great avenue that begins at Buckingham Palace.

There will be street food, parties, concerts, religious celebrations, and even a national contest to come up with a new pudding recipe, the so-called Jubilee Pudding, sponsored by the prestigious delicatessen house, Fortnum & Mason, supplier for decades to the royal house. .

Isabel II, who has closed her second to

, with the death in April of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh; a pandemic that has forced her to remain confined to Windsor; the headaches caused by his grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle; and the scandal of his son, Prince Andrew, accused in a US court of sexual abuse of a minor; He faces 2022 with an intense agenda that serves to remind the British that he is still at the foot of the canyon. In the same way that her predecessors earned the royal name, such as William the Conqueror, Alfred the Great or Edward the Confessor, the queen should also have her own, royal historian Hugo Vickers has suggested to the AP agency. “I have always thought that she should be called Isabella the Unbreakable. That would be the perfect way to describe it. She never expected to be queen,and yet he embraced that duty without hesitation,” says Vickers.

He has commissioned the formation of governments on his behalf, and has shared confidences with 14 prime ministers.

The first of them was Winston Churchill.

The last, so far, has been Boris Johnson, himself an admirer of the politician who led Elizabeth II through her first and complex years as her queen.

He has met 13 presidents of the United States.

And he has seen how an Empire crumbled, a complex association of friendly nations was built, the Commonwealth, under his particular protection, or his country entered the European Economic Community with a referendum and left the European Union with other.

The idea of ​​the monarchy in the United Kingdom maintains a bomb-proof solidity, but it is a somewhat Elizabethan firmness, as was the Victorian firmness with a queen who remained almost 64 years on the throne of what was then the nation most powerful in the world. The 45 years of Elizabeth I are considered by many historians the most glorious time in England. As Professor Hogg explains, the fictional character that the queen hires in the first season of the series

to help him with his historical and cultural gaps, nothing better than a monarch to keep English politicians at bay: “Because they are English, male and upper class. A good scolding from the babysitter is what they like best in life,” explains Hogg. 70 years later, Elizabeth II has had to give more than one.

Elizabeth II wishes that Camilla Parker, second wife of Prince Charles, bear the title of queen after her succession

Elizabeth II wants Camilla Parker, Duchess of Cornwall and second wife of England's Prince Charles, to have the title of queen when he becomes king.

"It is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort," the monarch said in a message made public this Saturday by Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of her reign.

The Prince of Wales and his wife were "moved and honored", according to a spokesman, reports the BBC.

Carlos, who was first married to Lady Di, married Camilla in 2005.

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