NarrativeThe celebrations marking the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II, which ended on Sunday June 5, were the occasion for a rare moment of national communion. The sovereign assured to remain “determined to serve” the British.
Thousands of street parties, Paddington Bear’s surprise visit to Buckingham Palace, two smiles on the balcony, tributes galore: the United Kingdom has just experienced four days of weightlessness, entirely devoted to the platinum jubilee celebrating 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II. In a message of thanks, published Sunday, June 5 in the evening, the latter assured to stay “determined to serve” the British ” to the best of [ses] capacities, supported by [sa] family. “I am deeply touched that so many people took to the streets to celebrate my platinum jubilee”she said.
The festivities represented a rare moment of national communion, hardly disturbed by the gloomy weather, family affairs between the Windsors or politics. They ended in apotheosis, Sunday, with a gigantic parade between Westminster and Buckingham Palace retracing the life of the most enduring sovereign that the country has ever known, and mixing military pomp, humor and a very British eccentricity.
During these celebrations, the queen will have made only three appearances, including two on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, on June 2 at the end of the Trooping the Color military parade and on Sunday at the end of the parade. She was also seen lighting torches at Windsor Castle. But his relative absence did not disturb the party; it even added to the popular emotion, the British being aware that this jubilee will probably be the last of Elizabeth II. At the height of her popularity, the 96-year-old sovereign has hardly appeared in public since the fall, due to “ mobility problems »according to Buckingham Palace.
Her absence was most keenly felt on Friday during the religious ceremony in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which the sovereign was very keen on, according to royal commentators. The Queen is a woman of faith but also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, who celebrated the ceremony, found an elegant way to greet the sovereign, alluding to his passion for horses: “ Your Majesty, we are sorry that you are not with us this morning, but we are so happy that you are still in the saddle. And we’re all glad there’s even more to come. »
“We will never have such a queen again”
Sunday, to compensate for the absence of the queen, the organizers of the great parade projected her hologram on the curtains of the Gold State Coach, the golden carriage used for coronations, exceptionally out. The Queen also made a surprise and funny appearance in a video released during the concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday. She has tea there with another national icon, Paddington Bear, and reveals that, like him, she hides ” for later “ a jam sandwich in the black purse that never leaves her. “You laugh and cry with us and, above all, you have been there for us for seventy years”, Prince Charles, her eldest son and future king, said in a speech on Saturday, mixing tribute to his mother and the sovereign, whom many consider the “grandmother” of the nation.
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