PLATINUM JUBILEE. June 2, 2022 will mark the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of England. A platinum jubilee celebrated over several days, with parades, concerts, exhibitions… Here are the details of the festivities!
[Mis à jour le 31 mai 2022 à 17h16] At 96, Queen Elizabeth II is preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of her coronation. Her platinum jubilee will be honored by the United Kingdom over no less than four days, from Thursday June 2 to Sunday June 5, 2022. The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but also of fourteen other States sovereigns (the realms of the Commonwealth) began their reign on 2 June 1952, just 25 year.
An emblematic public figure, Elizabeth II therefore has the longest reign of the entire British monarchy. For this highly symbolic event, the British have planned many festivitiess : concerts, parades, plays… Well filled, the program will be punctuated by the arrival of a few celebrities, like the singer Ed Sheeran. Browse this special page for all the details of this platinum jubilee.
This jubilee of Elizabeth II will begin on the date of the coronation of the monarch, next June 2. The launch of the festivities will be provided by Westminster Abbey, which will ring its bell tower, as indicated by Hellomagazine. As soon as they sound, a military parade will begin in the streets of London, provided by more than 1,400 soldiers from all member countries of the Commonwealth. 200 horses and 400 musicians will also parade. What path will be taken? Departing from Buckingham Palace, the parade will descend the Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, where it will be “joined by the members of the royal family on horseback and in carriage”, as revealed by the site VisitBritain.
The traditional Royal Air Force flypast will close this June 2 parade. The Queen will attend from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. She is expected to be accompanied by all her family members, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who have been invited to join the balcony, despite their permanent retirement from the royal family. For now, their arrival is not confirmed, especially since Prince Harry fears for his safety since military protection was withdrawn when he renounced his royal titles and left the United Kingdom for California in 2020. Legal proceedings have been initiated on several occasions to recover police protection, in order to return peacefully to the country with her children, as explained in a press release published last January: “In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return home.”
But the Jubilee celebration will not stop there. The following day, Friday June 3, a ceremony will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral in central London. The thanksgiving service will pay homage “to the Queen’s long reign”. The rest of the day will be devoted to the second act of this jubilee: 150 national treasures are set to be “starred” to “highlight the evolution of British and Commonwealth creativity and culture throughout the Queen’s reign” , as explained Hello Magazine. What will this other procession be made up of? Above all, people from civil society, namely 2,500 volunteers and members of the public, “including a 99-year-old person”. This procession “will present key moments in musical trends, dance styles and fashion that have marked the decades.”
On Saturday June 4, the party will continue with one of the most prestigious horse races in the world, the Epsom Downs Derby. Members of the royal family, very attached to this practice, should attend. It will be a busy day as the culmination of the Jubilee, the huge concert at Buckingham Palace, transcribed live and organized by the BBC, will take place in the afternoon. Major international stars are expected: the event is large, so that the British must send their application to hope to participate after a draw.
This jubilee having to come to an end one day, Sunday June 5 was chosen as the closing date. It will be marked by the traditional and annual “Big Lunch”, a moment of conviviality between neighbours. Everyone is invited to share their meal, in the way they wish, with a view to sharing and generosity. But that’s not all: the English will be able to attend a very last parade, during which the streets of London will be draped in the symbol of the British monarchy. The authorities anticipate the participation of some 5,000 people. Visit Britain even revealed that the streets of the capital would be busy with the celebrations, with “theatre, music, circus, carnival and costume. All this” in tribute to Her Majesty’s services throughout his reign”. Finally, the highlight of the show will be the arrival of singer Ed Sheeran. At the end of this parade, he will give a musical tribute to the monarch.
Exhibitions on the Queen of England
Several exhibitions are also planned to celebrate this exceptionally long reign. Organized by the Royal Collection Trust, they will take place some time after this week of jubilee: from July 7 to September 26, 2022, Windsor Castle will hold an exhibition focusing on the Queen’s accession to the throne. On July 22 until October 2, 2022, another will look back on his coronation: it will be held in the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace. Finally, Scots will be able to rediscover all the outfits worn by the Queen during previous jubilees at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, from July to September 2022.
The Queen of England, pillar of the British family, is certainly the most famous monarch in the world. She is by far the first sovereign of the United Kingdom to achieve such longevity, knowing that in Europe, the sovereign who reigned the longest was the French king Louis XIV, with 72 years of reign. A period that Elizabeth II could soon exceed. To celebrate this reign, jubilees were organized on several occasions.
The Golden Jubilee had been Queen Elizabeth II’s first. An international event held in 2002, it marked his 50 years of reign. The jubilee was marked by a large multitude of popular events throughout London in June of the same year, supplemented by events in the Commonwealth realms. The Queen had attended all official celebrations with her husband, the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For a full year, the royal couple had traveled more than 64,373.76 km to the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and then around the United Kingdom, before ending this tour with a visit to Canada.
Then in 2012, the United Kingdom had already celebrated the diamond jubilee of Elizabeth II marking her 60 years of reign. This event was international: in accordance with the tradition of jubilees, a “jubilee medal”, in diamond, is awarded in the various Commonwealth countries, public holidays are decreed and public demonstrations are organized. For information, Queen Victoria was the only other monarch in the history of the United Kingdom to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee, in 1897. This time, in 2022, the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth will mark her 70 years of service . Festivities are also planned.
The health problems of the Queen of England
If the festivities promise to be numerous and joyful, there is however a shadow on the board: the Queen of England will not be able to attend all the events. At 96, Elizabeth II is facing health concerns. Since her hospitalization in October 2021, she has been moving around with a cane and has reduced her public appearances in recent months. Her doctors have therefore recommended that she give priority to rest: she will in fact not be able to follow the entirety of this very busy program.