Thursday 31 May 2012

Jubilicious Confusion.



I’m confused by the Jubilee. Or, more to the point, I’m confused by the general perception of the Jubilee. I’ve found that many people seem to think that they are celebrating the anniversary of the Coronation and in a way they are…………..but not its 60th.


QueenElizabeth II ascended to the throne, on the death of her father King George VI, on the 6th February 1952 and this is what is being celebrated this weekend.  Why did we not celebrate in February? Well, street parties and river pageants don’t really work in the dead of winter, do they? So it was shifted to an extended weekend in June which aligned it with the 59th anniversary of the Coronation which took place on the 2nd June 1953.

This confusion also seems to have engulfed the media. Earlier this week the Daily Mirror produced a facsimile edition of their Coronation edition and this evening BBC4 had a new documentary covering the event. Surely both of these would have been better saved until next year. Perhaps we’ll get them all over again in 2013!


Anyway, none of that really matters, the Jubilee weekend is nearly upon us. The weather may not be quite as good as that we’ve been  grown accustomed to over the last week or so, but there is a lot going on if you want to become involved.

Personally, I’d quite like to see the river pageant but I suspect that finding a decent view point is going to be tough without camping out overnight or getting up at the crack of dawn. In all honesty, I doubt that that is going to happen. As to the rest of the weekend,  I haven’t got a clue but I’m pretty sure it’s going to include a lot of relaxing.


For the record, I was around at the time of the ascension (just!) and the Coronation. Here are a couple of photographs  of  the children’s party held at Oxford Gardens School………….and yes, I am in there……somewhere!




Whether or not you are not interested in the Royals and their celebrations, at the very least, most people will get an extra days holiday. Either way. Enjoy.

Oh, and by the way, Oxford Gardens School is still celebrating............what a great time to be a flag maker!



4 comments:

  1. I share your sense of being overwhelmed but determined to enjoy. On the one hand, I'm no royalist, but on the other it's entertainment that as a Londoner I'm paying for. I live near the Thames at Greenwich but I'm not even sure the pageant will pass there.

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  2. That's you in the tux and bow-tie, eh?

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  3. Middle right? Nope, that's not me.

    Are we related? LOL

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  4. London on a Freedom Pass, sadly the flotilla fizzles out somewhere around Wappingbut the dispersal area runs between there and Greenwich. I'm not really sure how it works, but I doubt that everyone will be heading for home directly after the event, so I presume that many will moor up along that stretch of the river....but I could be wrong..........it wouldn't be the first time!

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