These past four days have seen an outbreak of national pride as the Queen reached her Diamond Jubilee – and what fantastic events we have had! The River Pageant on Sunday, followed by the Jubilee concert on Monday and then finally yesterday the service, carriage procession and fly past – amazing!
We were in London for the Pageant, and saw the a lot of the man powered boats and a few others heading towards the start. Even where we were (Putney), the crowds were lining the banks and clapping and cheering. We were going to try and get a viewpoint further up the river and see the Queen herself but with the weather deteriorating and no guarantee we’d be able to see anything we decided to watch on TV. Not quite the same in terms of atmosphere (didn’t really come through on the TV coverage), but we probably saw a lot more. I did feel really sorry for the singers on top of the Philharmonic barge at the end as they were absolutely soaked to the bone and looked freezing! Professionals to the end though, they belted out their songs to the Queen – I hope she appreciated their effort! Hopefully they won’t all go down with flu…
Unfortunately we didn’t get tickets for the Jubilee Concert so we stayed at home and watched on TV. We could’ve gone to the Mall I suppose, but neither of us are very good at standing for hours and we weren’t sure what the weather would be like or how much we would be able to see. From the TV it looked like even the people in the mall were having a blast though, so maybe we should’ve gone! The concert itself was a bit hit and miss for us. Some of the acts were great (i.e. Elton even struggling with a virus, and Madness on top of the Palace), some mediocre (i.e. Cliff and McCartney who both sounded like their voices were going), and some terrible (yes Cheryl I’m looking at you!).
Tuesday brought us an extra day off work (yey!), but for the Queen and the rest of the royals and dignitaries it was off to St Pauls for a service led by Archbishop Rowan Williams. I felt rather sorry for the Cadet who got flustered when she realised that the page she was reading from for her prayer was the wrong one and it took her a good 30 seconds to find the right page! We were willing someone to go and help her, but she kept herself under control and got through it.
A few other engagements later (no rest for the Queen!), there was a carriage procession back to the palace which was a great spectacle with the gleaming cavalry and carriages, followed by a balcony appearance and a fly past which included the Red Arrows and a Lancaster bomber with Spitfires and a Hurricane. Everytime the Queen and Royals were in view the crowds thronged, cheered and applauded – God Save the Queen indeed!
Everyone (aside from the odd anti-monarchist) seemed to enjoy the spectacles whatever the weather and however many people there were and I wish we had been there to see more of it in person and experience the atmosphere. The Queen did look a bit forlorn at times once Prince Phillip had been taken ill and was therefore not by her side, and we hope that he gets well soon, but like the trooper she is she carried on. Long live the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family as far as I’m concerned!
