Four days of celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee began on Thursday with a display of military spectacle, a patriotic crowd of many thousands and a royal gathering, as the nation marked the 70th anniversary of the monarch’s longest reign in British history. to the confrontation of color. .
Seventy years after her first salute as sovereign, mobility problems have forced the Queen to break with tradition, allowing the Prince of Wales to greet her on his behalf at the Horse Guard parade. . He was joined by the Duke of Cambridge and the Royal Princess.
The 96-year-old monarch skipped the guard’s physically arduous inspection and instead acknowledged the greeting of the home cavalry regiment returning at the end of the parade from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by Duke of Kent, 86 years.
Watching the parade from the Major General’s Office overlooking Horse Guards were the Duchess of Cambridge with eight-year-old Prince George, seven-year-old Princess Charlotte and four-year-old Prince Louis. in his first carriage procession.
The royal family appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a video
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex flew from California with their children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, who turns one on Saturday. They were not included in the carriage procession until the Horse Guard parade, but were guarded from the same office along with other members of the royal family. They are expected to attend a Thanksgiving service at St Paul’s this Friday.
There was one blatant absentee: the Duke of York. Stripped of royal patronage and affiliations after settling a U.S. civil lawsuit over sexual assault allegations, he was not present. The family drama and scandal dictated the line-up on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the RAF’s passage marking the end of the ceremony, without Andrew, Harry or Meghan after the “Megxit” and the accusations of the couple of racial hostility by the royal family.
The crowd in the mall. Photo: Paul Ellis / AFP / Getty Images
Working members of the royal family were only to join the queen on the balcony, he had decreed “after careful consideration.” As the red arrows roared over the palace with red, white, and blue smoke over a lively crowd and waving flags, there were Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, Edward and Sophie, and Anne and her husband, Tim Laurence. united by the lesser-known faces of the Queen’s other working relatives and the children of Cambridge and Wessex.
This weekend, Meghan will attend her first public engagement to the royal family from an awkward Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March 2020. It is speculated that the Queen will meet Lilibet for the first time. once, or even that the Sussex may have their daughter baptized. in Windsor.
The overflight of more than 70 planes, including Apache, Typhoons and Red Arrows helicopters, thundered over a crowded mall, where the crowd had gathered from early in the morning turning it into a sea of red, white and blue. Union flag sellers did quick business outside of nearby subway stations. Cardboard crowns and corgis were popular. A small number of especially devoted royal fans had camped overnight to ensure the best views. St James’s Park was quickly filled before the ceremony, as were other observation areas in central London, as metropolitan police warned later ones not to attend.
This was the first major milestone the queen has set without Prince Philip, who died last year at the age of 99. Color has marked the sovereign’s official birthday for over 260 years and is a basic annual event in the Queen’s Diary.
More than 1,400 soldiers and 250 horses from the British Army House Division took part. On this occasion, the color of the 1st Battalion The Irish Guards was made effective, led by his pet, an Irish wolfhound named Seamus, in front of 7,500 spectators with entrance to Horse Guards Parade and another 7,000 at the Queen Victoria Memorial outside the Palace of Buckingham.
Members of the Home Division participate in the color troop. Photography: Jeff Mitchell / Getty Images
It was a military spectacle at its best, with swords, medals, buttons, and armor gleaming in the sunlight as horses and soldiers performed complex training maneuvers on the battlefield with a specially composed music program. The playlist included Slattery’s Mounted Fut, a favorite song by the Queen Mother, Long Live Elizabeth, in homage to the Queen, and Irish folk songs.
A double pistol salute marked the platinum jubilee and the 69th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation on June 2, 1953.
Among those who sent their congratulations was French President Emmanuel Macron, who gave the queen a cavalry horse named Fabulous. In a video message, he said: “We are grateful for your courage and share the respect and love that the British and the Commonwealth have always shown you.”
Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill wrote to the Queen praising her “significant” contribution to the peace process and recognizing her “public service to the British people”.
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An estimated 10 million people plan to celebrate platinum jubilee over the holiday weekend, according to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, with street parties, lunches, parades and live music events.
As evening falls on Thursday evening, more than 3,000 beacons will be lit in the UK and the Commonwealth in honor of the Queen, who is expected to lead the lighting of the Jubilee’s main lighthouse at a ceremony at Windsor Castle .