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!
