LONDON – With regimental formations of Scots and Irish guards, crowds of Union Jack-clad observers and waves of planes circling overhead, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 70th year on the throne on Thursday, receive tribute from world leaders and ordinary people for a dynasty second to none in British history.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the queen stepped out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace to greet a sea of wise men that stretched along the Mall. She is among four generations of the royal family, a scene that presents both the timeless durability of the monarchy and the internal tensions of a modern family.
Three heirs to the throne stood by her side: her eldest son, Prince Charles; his eldest son, Prince William; and William’s eldest son, Prince George. But William’s younger brother, Prince Harry, has gone missing, after retiring from royal duties and moving to Southern California with his wife, Meghan, in 2020.
Also missing is the queen’s second son, Prince Andrew, who has been banished from public life for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased financier and convicted sex offender. Late on Thursday, Buckingham Palace said Prince Andrew had tested positive for Covid and would miss the rest of the celebrations.
And late on Thursday, the palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had decided to skip Friday’s thanksgiving, one of the key events of her Platinum Jubilee, after feeling uneasy during the Busy first day of the festival. The palace said the queen “enjoyed” the military parade marking her birthday, but “had felt some discomfort.”
On Thursday, however, the royal family’s dysfunction was averted by a joyful celebration of their 96-year-old model, who has served England with any conquest. what jerk.
Praises go to world leaders, past and present, some of whom sound like fanboys in their awestruck admiration.
“You are the golden thread that binds our two nations, the proof of the enduring friendship between our nations,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in English during a video greeting.
Former President Barack Obama, who visited the queen at Buckingham Palace with his wife, Michelle, in 2011, declared: “Your life is a gift, not just to the UK but to the rest of the world. world”.
In what was an emotional highlight of the festival, the queen stepped out onto the balcony shortly after noon to check on the armies marching below her. She looked sober and glamorous, wearing a dark dove blue dress with pearls and a tiered diamanté on the front of her jacket. She then reappeared shortly before 1pm along with other members of the royal family.
This is the first of four days of festivities – the Queen’s Platinum Celebration – featuring a military parade featuring hundreds of Army musicians, 240 horses, a Royal Air Force flyover and a gun salute.
The obvious purpose of all this competition is to celebrate the queen’s birthday, back in April. However, the display of military greatness, known as Trooping the Colour, also symbolizes Elizabeth’s status as commander-in-chief of the British armed forces. That bond has been sacred to her ever since she served in the ancillary services industry as a driver and truck mechanic during World War II, when she was a little princess.
The Queen did not attend the ceremonies earlier in the day, a concession to her frail condition and the problems she has faced in recent times. But the palace left no doubt that she intended to turn to the balcony, the last royal photo opportunity.
She is also scheduled to lead the lighting of the Platinum Jubilee Beacon on Thursday night from Windsor Castle, in a double ceremony with her grandson Prince William.
Buckingham Palace has sought to quash weeks of press speculation by revealing last month that the queen will be joined at the front of the palace in a streamlined version of the royal family.
The slimmer ranks at Buckingham Palace implement Prince Charles’ longtime strategy of reducing the number of working royals – giving in to changing times and growing public resistance to the cost of support royal aid.
That the queen has entered her Platinum Jubilee is the main storyline of the week. She contracted the coronavirus in February and has talked about how exhausted the ordeal was. She lost her husband, Prince Philip, last year, and ill health forced her to cancel several public appearances, including war memorials and the opening of Parliament.
It was a heavy blow to a king who lived up to the mantra that she must be “seen to be believed.” But Elizabeth looked smug on Thursday, and in recent appearances at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and Chelsea Flower Show, stoked hopes that the celebration could be more of a celebration than a celebration. gloomy sunset.
