Tag: Queen Elizabeth II

Queen leads ceremony but misses Jubilee service (Gallery)

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II stepped gingerly onto the Buckingham Palace balcony Thursday, drawing cheers from the tens of thousands who came to join her at the start of a four-day celebration honoring her 70 years on the throne.

Fans sported Union Jack flags, party hats or plastic tiaras. Some had camped overnight in hopes of glimpsing the 96-year-old queen and a chance to watch the Trooping the Color — a military parade marking each sovereign’s official birthday since 1760.

It was one of the first big gatherings in the U.K. since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Everybody has got the same mission,” said Hillary Mathews, 70, from Hertfordshire. “All the horrors that’s been going on in the world and in England at the moment are put behind us for a day, and we can just enjoy really celebrating the queen.”

Elizabeth, who became queen at 25, is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to reach seven decades on the throne.

Yet age has begun to catch up with her. Buckingham Palace announced the queen would not attend a thanksgiving church service today after experiencing “some discomfort” at Thursday’s events. 

“The queen greatly enjoyed” Thursday’s events, according to the palace.

She basked in her moment, chatting with her great-grandson Prince Louis, 4, who occasionally covered his ears as 70 military aircraft swooped over the palace in salute. The display included a formation of fighter jets flying in the shape of the number 70.

The queen was joined on the balcony by more than a dozen royals — though not Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, who gave up front-line royal duties two years ago. The couple traveled to London from California with their two young children to take a low-key part in the celebrations.The monarch had decided only working members of the royal family should appear on the balcony. The decision also excluded Prince Andrew, who stepped away from public duties amid controversy over his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew will also miss Friday’s church service after testing positive for COVID-19.

The Jubilee is being commemorated with a four-day holiday and events, including a concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday. Thousands of street parties are planned nationwide, repeating a tradition that began with the queen’s coronation in 1953.

Not everyone in the U.K. is celebrating. Many took advantage of the long weekend to go on vacation. Twelve protesters were arrested Thursday after getting past barriers and onto the parade route. The group Animal Rebellion claimed responsibility, saying the protesters were “demanding that royal land is reclaimed.”

Yet the Jubilee is giving many a chance to reflect on the state of the nation and the huge changes that have taken place during Elizabeth’s reign.

John Major, one of the 14 prime ministers during the queen’s reign, said the monarch’s stoic presence has helped steer the country over the decades.

“The queen has represented our better selves for over 70 years,” he told the BBC.

Congratulations arrived from world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis. French President Emmanuel Macron called Elizabeth “the golden thread that binds our two countries” and former President Barack Obama recalled the queen’s “grace and generosity” during his first visit to the palace.

Cheers and the clop of hooves rang out Thursday as horse-drawn carriages carried members of the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a ceremonial parade ground about half a mile away for the Trooping the Color ceremony.

The annual tradition is a ceremonial reenactment of the way battle flags were once displayed for soldiers.

Prince Charles, the 73-year-old heir to the throne, stood in for his mother during the event Thursday.

He rode onto the parade ground on horseback and took the salute of troops in their scarlet tunics and bearskin hats, flanked by his sister, Princess Anne, and oldest son, Prince William.

“I’m very proud of the queen,” said Celia Lourd, 60, one of the spectators. “She’s been my queen all my life, and I think we owe her an awful lot for the service she’s given to the country. So I wanted to come to show my support today and say thank you.”

 

U.K. set to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee

LONDON  — The nation will celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign this week with four days of celebration in central London. But behind the music, parties and a planned appearance by the queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace lies a drive to show the royal family still remains relevant after seven decades of change.

The royals want to show that their support comes from all parts of a society that has become more multicultural amid immigration from the Caribbean, South Asia and Eastern Europe.

A display paying homage to Queen Elizabeth II outside the Sloane Club and Sloane Place as part of an alternative floral art show “Chelsea in Bloom” which runs alongside the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, in streets and venues. Monday, May 23. (MATT DUNHAM/Associated Press)

As part of the jubilee pageant, dancers from London’s Afro-Caribbean community will don costumes of giant flamingos, zebras and giraffes to reimagine the moment in 1952 when Princess Elizabeth learned she had become queen while visiting a game park in Kenya. 

Members of the Mahogany carnival group take part in a rehearsal for their upcoming performance at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, at Queens Park Community School, in north London, Saturday, May 28. (MATT DUNHAM/Associated Press)

The jubilee has caught public attention. Located around the corner from Buckingham Palace, the Cool Britannia gift shop has run out of Platinum Jubilee tea towels. Spoons are sparse. Mugs are in short supply.

It’s not just foreign tourists who are buying all things Elizabeth. Visitors from around the U.K. are also hunting for jubilee mementos, said Ismayil Ibrahim, the man behind the counter.

Since assuming the throne after the death of her father on Feb. 6, 1952, Elizabeth has been a symbol of stability as the country negotiated the end of empire, the birth of the computer age and the mass migration that transformed Britain into a multicultural society.

Yet through it all, the queen has built a bond with the nation through a seemingly endless series of public appearances as she opened libraries, dedicated hospitals and bestowed honors on deserving citizens.

The past two years have highlighted the monarchy’s strengths as the queen alternately consoled a nation isolated by COVID-19 and thanked doctors and nurses battling the disease.

A cake to celebrate the start of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, at a reception she held for representatives from local community groups. Sandringham, England, Saturday, Feb. 5. (Joe Giddens/Pool Photo via AP, File) (JOE GIDDENS/ Associated Press)

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But the royal family’s frailties were also on display as the 96-year-old monarch buried her husband and was slowed by health problems that forced her to turn over important public duties to Prince Charles. The passing came amid the all-too-public tensions with Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, who made allegations of racism and bullying in the royal household, as well as the sordid allegations about Prince Andrew’s links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“There is no blueprint for a reign of this length, and, subsequently, I think the palace and courtiers are having to improvise all the time,” said Ed Owens, a royal historian and author of “The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public 1932-1953.”

“In the case of Elizabeth II, we haven’t had a monarch this elderly who has reigned for so long and is so meaningful to so many people having to essentially transfer her role to the next in line.”

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Charles Takes Greater Public Role (Timeline)

LONDON — It’s good to be queen.

No one knows that better than Queen Elizabeth II, who’s showing no signs of stepping aside after 70 years on the throne. But the aging sovereign is giving Prince Charles, her eldest son and heir, an increasingly prominent role.

Last month Charles, 73, accompanied by his wife, Camilla, presided over the State Opening of Parliament, one of the monarch’s most important duties.

The subtle transition illustrates challenges confronting the royal family. As Britain celebrates the queen’s Platinum Jubilee this week, the royals are working to cement the position of a sometimes misunderstood heir and demonstrate that the House of Windsor will live on.

“Charles and Camilla are a question mark for the future when it comes to the monarchy,” said Robert Lacey, a royal historian and adviser on the Netflix series “The Crown.” 

Much of that is due to Elizabeth, who on her 21st birthday pledged to serve Britain and the Commonwealth for her whole life. 

But her problems in moving around force her to be more selective in her public engagements and open a door for Charles, who has spent the past three decades trying to overcome the fallout from the messy breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana.

It took years for many in Britain to forgive Charles, whose admitted infidelity and longtime links to Camilla torpedoed his relationship with Diana who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, five years after her split from Charles. 

[pullquote speaker=”Robert Lacey” photo=”” align=”left” background=”on” background_color=”” border=”none” border_color=”#888888″ border_size=”1px” shadow=”off”]Charles and Camilla are a question mark for the future when it comes to the monarchy[/pullquote]

But the public mood has softened since Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. Earlier this year, the queen sought to bolster the couple’s position by expressing her “sincere wish” that Camilla be known as “Queen Consort” when Charles becomes king. Elizabeth’s words rejected arguments that the history of the relationship should relegate Camilla to some lower status.

Charles, meanwhile, has been ready to step in whenever required, most dramatically when he presided over the opening of Parliament and delivered the Queen’s Speech, laying out the government’s legislative program.

The event is a symbol of the monarch’s constitutional role as the U.K.’s head of state. The choreography of the day emphasized a queen who was absent, yet still present. Her throne was removed, but in its place the Imperial State Crown sat propped on a cushion. Charles wore the uniform of an admiral of the fleet — rather than sweeping ermine robes.

Because Charles has been waiting in the wings for so long, his passions are well known. For example, he began campaigning for environmental causes long before they were mainstream concerns. He has been accused of meddling in politics, something the monarch is barred from, by speaking up about property developments he opposed and other issues.

It may be the shape of things to come.

Tiwa Adebayo, 23, a journalist and blogger, says the royals need to be more vocal about issues like this, speaking out on topics such as inequality and immigration, if the monarchy is going to be relevant in the future. She cited the Dutch royals as a model for the future.

“I think that’s the sort of monarchy we want,” she said. “And so this kind of not getting involved with politics, but kind of getting involved in politics, not getting too involved in societal issues but speaking when it’s convenient, I don’t think that’s really going to fly anymore.”

For now, Charles has recognized that he can be a bit less stuffy in public — more accessible even. Nowhere is that more evident than in a special jubilee appearance on a television soap opera.

Charles and Camilla will surprise residents at a street party held to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on the long-running BBC show EastEnders. In a clip shown after a recent episode, partygoers are told “You have got to see this mystery guest” — before the royal couple pulls up in a car beside The Queen Vic pub.

Queen’ Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee draws protest, indifference from some in Commonwealth (Timeline)

LONDON — After seven decades on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II is widely viewed in the U.K. as a rock in turbulent times. But while the U.K. is celebrating the queen’s Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — with pageantry, some in the Commonwealth are using the occasion to push for a formal break with the monarchy and the colonial history it represents.

“It’s not about her,” said Jamaican academic Rosalea Hamilton, who campaigns for her country to break away from the Commonwealth and become a republic. “It’s about her family’s wealth, built on the backs of our ancestors.”

The empire Elizabeth was born into is gone, but she is still head of state in 14 other nations, including Canada, Australia and the Bahamas. Barbados cut ties with the monarchy in November. Several other Caribbean countries say they plan to follow suit.

Britain’s jubilee celebrations, which climax over a four-day holiday weekend starting Thursday, aim to recognize the diversity of the U.K. and the Commonwealth. Britain’s image of itself as welcoming was battered by the revelation that hundreds of people from the Caribbean who had lived legally in the U.K. for decades were denied housing, jobs or medical treatment — and in some cases deported — because they didn’t have paperwork to prove their status.

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— The U.K. is celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne. The monarch became queen at age 25 on Feb. 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI. She was formally coronated on June 2, 1953.

— Jubilees are usually marked with military displays, a church service and street festivities.

— Some in the Commonwealth are using the occasion to push for a formal break with the monarchy and the colonial history it represents.

— The queen is still the ceremonial head of state in 14 other nations, including Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Bahamas. 

— Until recently it was 15 — Barbados cut ties with the monarchy in November, and several other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, say they plan to follow suit.

— Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in 2002 under late authoritarian President Robert Mugabe. The nation began the process to rejoin in 2018.

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The British government apologized and agreed to pay compensation. 

A jubilee-year trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in March by the queen’s grandson Prince William and his wife, Kate, was intended to strengthen ties, but it appears to have had the opposite effect. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, University of the West Indies professor of political science, said the British “seem to be very blind to the visceral sort of reactions” royal visits elicit in the Caribbean.

Protesters in Jamaica demanded Britain pay reparations for slavery, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness politely told William the country was “moving on,” a signal it planned to become a republic. U.K. officials hope countries become republics will remain in the Commonwealth, the 54-nation organization made up largely of former British colonies. Out of those nations, 14 still recognize the queen as their ceremonial head.

William acknowledged the strength of feeling and said the future “is for the people to decide upon.”

“We support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” he said in the Bahamas. “Relationships evolve. Friendship endures.”

When then-Princess Elizabeth became queen on the death of her father King George VI in 1952, she was in Kenya. The East African country became independent in 1963 after years of violent struggle between a liberation movement and colonial troops. In 2013, the British government apologized for the torture of thousands of Kenyans in the 1950s during the “Mau Mau” uprising and paid millions in an out-of-court settlement.

Memories of the empire are still raw for many Kenyans.

“From the start, her reign would be indelibly stained by the brutality of the empire she presided over and that accompanied its demise,” said Patrick Gathara, a Kenyan cartoonist, writer and commentator.

“To this day, she has never publicly admitted, let alone apologized, for the oppression, torture, dehumanization and dispossession visited upon people in the colony of Kenya before and after she acceded to the throne.” Though Kenya does not recognize the queen as its head of state, the nation remains a member of the Commonwealth.

The queen’s strong personal commitment to the Commonwealth has played a big role in uniting a diverse group that also includes India and Tuvalu. But the organization faces an uncertain future.

As Commonwealth heads of government prepare to meet in Kigali, Rwanda, this month for a summit delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, some question whether the organization can continue once the queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles, succeeds her. Sue Onslow, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, said the queen has been the “invisible glue” holding the Commonwealth together.

But she says the organization has proven remarkably resilient and shouldn’t be written off. The Commonwealth played a major role in galvanizing opposition to apartheid in the 1980s, and could do the same over climate change, which poses an existential threat to its low-lying island members.

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Queen Elizabeth to visit France for D-Day tribute

GREGORY KATZ
Associated Press

Queen Elizabeth II visited the British Military Cemetery in Bayeux, France, during ceremonies honoring veterans and those who died in war on the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. Queen Elizabeth II, 88, and Prince Philip, 92, have for the most part stopped traveling overseas but will travel next week for the 70th commemoration of the D-Day invasion on June 6. The perils of World War II directly shaped their lives. (Laurent Rebours/Associated Press)

LONDON — The queen’s joints are creaky and her husband has recently battled serious illness, but the royal couple won’t let aches and pains keep them away from a grand overseas commemoration: the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Queen Elizabeth II, 88, and Prince Philip, 92, have for the most part stopped traveling abroad, but next week they intend to be in Normandy for ceremonies to honor those who sacrificed their lives to liberate Europe from the Nazi grip.

The perils of World War II directly shaped their lives. Continue reading Queen Elizabeth to visit France for D-Day tribute