Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II commemorates her seventy years anniversary in service to the United Kingdom and other countries of the Commonwealth. It is dubbed the Platinum Jubilee, a 4-day bank holiday weekend celebration starting today 2nd of June, 2022 to end on the 5th of June 2022. The 96yr old British monarch ascended office in February 6, 1952, after the death of her father on the same day. She however chose to not celebrate her Platinum Jubilee on her accession day this year, as it also coincided with the 70th anniversary of her father’s death, hence it was moved to June, 2022.
It is worthy of note that the Queen’s reign is marked by numerous state visits, to different Commonwealth countries. She became the first Monarch to make a state visit to Germany in more than five decades. Also, she is known to have modernized the British Monarchy by doing away with some of the formalities and making the Buckingham palace accessible to the public amongst other laudable feats.
Though, Jubilee celebrations date back to the reign of George III, Queen Victoria’s grandfather, this is a very special celebration for the Commonwealth as Queen Elizabeth II will be the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. Queen Victoria, the Queen’s great grandmother who reigned for 63 years before her death in 1901, is the only monarch that comes close. This also, could as well be the last, public homage paid to the Queen. Hence, the entire United Kingdom is buzzing with activities with an expected participation of millions of people.
The Platinum Jubilee promises to exhibit the grandeur and pageantry of Britain in celebration of the Queen as it kicks off today, with a military parade, Trooping the Colour, where more than 1,400 soldiers donning their classic red uniforms, together with horses and musicians will march from the Buckingham palace. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan will be joining the royal family to watch the parade on the Buckingham palace balcony. In the evening, about 3,200 beacons will be lit in honour of the Queen through out the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and British Overseas territories and each of the capital cities of Commonwealth countries.
Tomorrow, June the 3rd, there will be a Thanksgiving Church service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London for the royal family while on Saturday, a horse race at Epsom Downs, south of London to celebrate the Queen who is a well renowned horse racer, having attended many horseracing events over the years. Finally, there are community-organized street parties and barbecues to be topped of with a People’s Pageant featuring singer Ed Sheeran and soccer player David Beckham on Sunday, 5th June, to mark the end the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
