Diamond
- May 28th, 2012
- Posted by EUEditor
“I declare before you all that my whole life will be dedicated to your serviceâ€, said the young Elizabeth II after becoming Queen on 6 February 1952.
Commemorations for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, 86, will reach their focus this weekend on the anniversary date of her 1953 Coronation, 2 June.
She will go to the races on Saturday, for the Epsom Derby; they will have the long-awaited Thames Pageant on the river this Sunday, with 1000 boats of every traditional kind; there’ll be a concert at Buckingham Palace on Monday, tickets by ballot; and on Monday night beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth – one of them on top of Parliament House in Canberra.
The Queen’s long reign has been matched only by that of Queen Victoria who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Her outstanding popularity has set her apart from republican aspirations in Australia and elsewhere.
The form of government – unelected, but in clear league with a strong electoral democracy – has created no end of puzzlement to the non-British; democrats on one hand worried by the idea of hereditary power; and despots, some getting themselves up in elaborate costumes and regalia, wishing that the longevity and legitimacy could be got, without the voting part.
A carriage procession and service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral are scheduled for Tuesday.
Reference
UK government, London, Directgov: public services all in one place. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/Features/DG_WP200687, (28.5.12).
Pictures
HM QEII 2012; Coronation 1953; Diamond Jubilee emblem, by Katherine Dewar, 10, winner of a national design competition in the UK; govt. of UK.