Everything about The Golden Jubilee Of Elizabeth Ii totally explained
The
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the
fiftieth anniversary of
Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. It was celebrated with large-scale events throughout
London, the
capital of the
United Kingdom, in June 2002, as well as in her other Realms, as she and
Prince Philip toured them throughout the year. The official "Jubilee Days" were held to coincide with the
Queen's Official Birthday. Unlike the
Silver Jubilee in 1977, international goodwill trips were scheduled months in advance, and first started in February.
The two other royal jubilees in the
20th century had been marked by a
Fleet Review - there was to have been
one for this jubilee, but it was cancelled on cost grounds (or, in a sense, postponed until
2005, and the
International Fleet Review).
Spring goodwill trips
The Queen began the Jubilee year by embarking on visits to her Realms outside the United Kingdom.
The first one visited was
Jamaica on
February 18; the Royals hadn't made a trip to the country in eight years. This came at a particularly painful time for the Royal Family as it occurred just three days after the funeral of the Queen's sister,
Princess Margaret. After two days in Jamaica, the Queen and her husband,
Prince Philip, continued on to
New Zealand, making stops in major cities such as
Auckland,
Christchurch, and
Wellington. The Queen was then received in
Adelaide on
February 27 by
Peter Hollingworth, for a five-day tour of
Australia, visiting places in
South Australia and
Queensland.
In the United Kingdom
Celebrations for Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee took place all over the United Kingdom between May and July of 2002. The Queen herself expressed the wish that the Golden Jubilee should be an occasion for her to give thanks to the whole nation and the Commonwealth for the support she'd received during her reign.
In the lead up to the celebratory weeks, British media, such as
The Guardian predicted that the Jubilee would be a failure; Britain was no longer interested in the Monarchy; a pervading sense of apathy amongst the populace seemed to confirm this. However, these predictions were proven wrong, especially during the official Jubilee weekend, when people numbering in the hundreds of thousands turned out to partake in the fetes, culminating on the celebration on The Mall on
June 4, when over one million people attended the parade and flypast. The
Daily Mail stated in its editorial: "How the sour anti-Royalists in
The Guardian newspaper and elsewhere have been confounded. They were convinced that the occasion would be a flop, that the House of Windsor was no longer capable of inspiring the loyalties it once did and that anyway the concept of royalty was passe in Cool Britannia."
It was on
March 3 that the Queen and Prince Philip returned to
London, when they were dealt another blow when the
Queen Mother died on
March 30.
On 11th March,
Commonwealth Day, a portrait of the Queen that was commissioned by
The Commonwealth to celebrate the Golden Jubilee was unveiled., The picture painted in 2002 by Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy at Buckingham Palace now hangs in
Marlborough House. A study is part of the Queen’s collection in
St. James's Palace.
The Queen opened the official celebrations in the UK at a speech to both
Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, on
April 30,
2002. The speech marked the fifth time in 50 years that the Queen spoke to Parliament on her own account. The Queen spoke of fifty unforgettable years, and the changes to British life and society in that time, and elaborated that the Monarchy must change as well. She said she'd "witnessed the transformation of the international landscape through which this country much chart its course..." and declared "her resolve to continue, with the support of my family, to serve the people of this great nation of ours to the best of my ability through the changing times ahead." Also in April, the Queen attended a dinner at 10 Downing Street for all her past Prime Ministers, including Sir
John Major, Baroness
Margaret Thatcher, Sir
Edward Heath and
James Callaghan; the dinner was hosted by
Tony Blair.
When goodwill visits resumed on
May 1, they were confined to the
United Kingdom, and another international Jubilee visit didn't take place until the couple's visit to
Canada in October. Roughly two to three days were spent in each corner of
England; the Queen and Prince Philip first stopped in
Cornwall,
Devon and
Somerset before travelling to
Tyne and Wear, then finally to
Buckinghamshire and
Berkshire. On
May 13, the couple were received in
Northern Ireland, and visited such areas as
County Fermanagh,
Cookstown, and
Omagh (the latter being the site of a notorious
Irish Republican
bombing in 1998).
Throughout much of mid-May, the Queen and Prince Philip were in London devoting much time to the promotion of the arts, attending the
Chelsea Flower Show, dedicating the Queen's Gallery at
Buckingham Palace, and attending a reception at the
Royal Academy of Arts. On
May 23, the Jubilee trips recommenced with a noteworthy six-day trip to
Scotland (the longest span of time spent in any "region" of the UK). Scotland was a location of profound significance to the royals, as it was the first part of the country visited during the 1977 Silver Jubilee, and it was where the largest crowds were recorded. Like the 1977 trip, the royals first stopped in
Glasgow, and then travelled on to
Edinburgh,
Dundee and
Aberdeen.
A special £5 coin was released to celebrate the event.
Golden Jubilee Weekend
The
Golden Jubilee Weekend took place between the
June 1 and
June 4,
2002, in
London.
The Queen and Prince Philip left Scotland on
May 29 to make final preparations for the Jubilee Weekend, which would start on
June 1. On the night of
June 1, a "
Prom at the Palace", showcasing highlights in
classical music, was held in
Buckingham Palace Gardens, the largest venue ever organised on the premises. 12,500 people were invited to attend, out of two million people who expressed interest by completing applications. Playing for the crowds were the
BBC Symphony Orchestra and the
BBC Symphony Chorus, conducted by
Sir Andrew Davis. Guest vocalists included
Kiri Te Kanawa,
Thomas Allen,
Angela Gheorghiu and
Roberto Alagna.
June 2 was a Sunday. The Queen and Prince Philip attended Jubilee church services at
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The rest of the Queen's family were spread across the country that day:
Prince Charles and his sons
William and
Harry attended services at
Swansea;
Prince Edward and the
Countess of Wessex attended services in
Salisbury and later greeted crowds in the area as scheduled;
Princess Anne was in
Ayr at the time;
Prince Andrew wasn't in the country, as President of
the Football Association, he was attending a
World Cup football match in
Japan.
The events of
June 3 culminated in a
pop music concert in the evening, in
Buckingham Palace Gardens. The concert, called "
Party at the Palace", showcased the achievements in pop music over the previous fifty years. The Queen and Prince Philip had spent the day touring
Eton and
Slough before returning to
London in the afternoon. The Queen inaugurated the nationwide
BBC Music Live Festival, in which over 200 cities and towns across the UK played the song
All You Need Is Love, followed by the ringing of church bells at 1pm. This was the peak day of celebrations, and just like
June 7,
1977, street parties were thrown across the country.
The concert was attended by all the members of the immediate
British Royal Family, including Prince Andrew, who returned from the World Cup matches in Japan. Among the headlining acts at the concert were
Paul McCartney,
Eric Clapton,
Cliff Richard and
Tony Bennett.
Queen guitarist
Brian May started the event by playing his arrangement of
God Save the Queen from the roof of the palace. Paul McCartney ended the night with such numbers as
While My Guitar Gently Weeps and
Hey Jude, which were performed before and after the Queen lit the National Beacon at the
Victoria Memorial. The National Beacon was the last in a string of
beacons to be lit in a chain throughout the world, echoing
Queen Victoria's own Golden Jubilee in
1887.
12,000 guests were allowed into the
Buckingham Palace Gardens for the concert. An additional million people thronged
The Mall to watch and listen to the festivities on giant TV screens, and joining in with the Palace audience's singing from outside the gates of
Buckingham Palace.
On
June 4, the entire Royal Family attended the
National Service of Thanksgiving at
St Paul's Cathedral, followed by lunch at the
Guildhall. Unlike the 1977 Jubilee, which proved to have a theme of unity, the Queen addressed the crowd and expressed pride at the
Commonwealth's achievements, both during her reign as Queen and throughout time. The Queen was quoted as saying, "Gratitude, respect and pride, these words sum up how I feel about the people of this country and the Commonwealth - and what this Golden Jubilee means to me."
The Jubilee Festival started procession in The Mall in the early afternoon. In addition to singers and musicians performing for the Queen, numerous floats were decorated and driven through The Mall, illustrating British life through the years of her reign, from the 1950s to the present day. The Festival was also notable for the presence of a
Hells Angel named "Snob" (real name Alan Fisher), who led a procession of motorcycles through The Mall at the Queen's request.
At the end of the Festival, 5000 adults and children from the 54 Commonwealth nations marched in The Mall before the Queen, in their various national uniforms, and presented a "rainbow of wishes" to the Queen, consisting of handwritten notes from schoolchildren from across the Commonwealth. Later in the day, the Queen and Prince Philip greeted crowds from the Palace Centre Room's balcony. More than a million people thronged The Mall and cheered the Queen and other members of the Family.
The royals then viewed a
flypast, consisting of every type of
RAF aircraft in service.
Concorde and
Red Arrows trailed behind the other aircraft, ending the show.
There were also several events which were independently organised to celebrate the Jubilee; for example, in June 2002 the
Armed Forces of the United Kingdom staged a special parade for the Queen at Portsmouth, where she inspected a guard of honour. Also, the Queen hosted a banquet for all reigning European Kings and Queens (to most of whom she's related) and also gave a special dinner for all the
Governors-General of the other countries where she's Queen.
Numerous locally organised street parties were held throughout Britain. A notable difference with those of 1977 was that some of the most popular venues were
cul-de-sacs.
Protest against the monarchy
Approximately 41 activists were arrested in the run-up to a protest against the Queen's Jubilee in London. All but one were later released, and a successful claim for damages was made against the
Metropolitan Police. The protest was partly organised by the
Movement Against the Monarchy.
Celebrations in British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories
In the
Turks and Caicos Islands, a
British Overseas Territory, for the first four days of June, celebrations took place throughout the Islands, presided over by
Governor Mervyn Jones.
The Public Relations Department of the Tourist Board for the Jubilee Committee produced the Jubilee Souvenir Brochure, with text and images covering historical Royal Visits provided by the National Museum. Only 5,000 were produced, issue number 1 being given to Queen Elizabeth II herself. The Museum also provided photographs for the production of three sets of Stamps, and, for the Jubilee Weekend, prepared a temporary exhibition on Royal Visits, with other items from the past, such as the Coronation Medals issued in to some local residents in 1953. Other items produced to commemorate the Jubilee were a straw crown made on
Middle Caicos by Loathie Harvey and Judy Geddis, two 20-crown Coins, and a badge given to all school children as a memento of the historic occasion.
Summer and autumn goodwill trips
The Jubilee goodwill visits started again on
7 June, when the Queen and Prince Philip paid a visit to
West Sussex. A three-day trip to
Wales followed shortly thereafter, with the couple touring
Anglesey,
Llanelli, and
Cardiff.
July also proved to be a busy month, with the Queen and Prince Philip making two-day trips to the
West Midlands,
Yorkshire (where the Queen visited the set of the
soap opera Emmerdale) and the areas of
Suffolk and
Norfolk. Later in the month, a three-day goodwill trip was planned to
Liverpool and
Manchester, where the Queen opened the 2002
Commonwealth Games. The Queen closed out July by touring the
East Midlands, and ended their exhaustive domestic trip by visiting
Lancashire, where the highest number of people in
England turned out for the Queen in 1977.
Canada
For twelve days in October, the Queen and Prince Philip visited
Canada, making stops in
Vancouver,
Winnipeg,
Toronto,
Hamilton,
Hull,
Fredericton,
Sussex,
Moncton and
Ottawa. The trip was also unique in that it was the first royal visit to
Iqaluit since the territory of
Nunavut was established.
In Nunavut, on
October 4, the Queen opened, and addressed, the new
Legislative Assembly, stating "I am proud to be the first member of the
Canadian Royal Family to be greeted in Canada's newest territory." After a walk-about in the Iqaluit streets, the Queen unveiled a street sign for Iqaluit's main street, named in her honour.
The Queen then flew to
Victoria, British Columbia, where she was greeted by the province's
Lieutenant Governor, spending most of the weekend there, though performing no official duties on the Saturday. On Sunday she attended Christ Church Cathedral, performing an unscheduled walk-about after the service. She later unveiled a stained glass window in the provincial
Legislature, marking her Golden Jubilee. Outside the
Snowbirds performed an acrobatic fly-by, for an audience of 16,000.
In
Vancouver, on October 6, the Queen, accompanied by
Wayne Gretzky, and in front of a crowd of 18,000, dropped the ceremonial puck at the beginning of an
NHL hockey game. This was the first time any reigning monarch, Canadian or otherwise, had performed this task. She and Prince Philip then watched the first period of the game from the Royal Box – the first time she'd done so since her first hockey game at
Maple Leaf Gardens in 1951.
In
Winnipeg the Queen performed a walk-about at
the Forks. She also re-dedicated the newly restored
Golden Boy statue atop the
Manitoba Legislative Building. Her Majesty attended an evening performance of the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet, accompanied by the
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and
Loreena McKennitt.
On October 9, the Royal Couple arrived in
Toronto, being welcomed to the province by the
Lieutenant Governor and by thousands of Ontarians. The Queen was also greeted later on at a reception at
Exhibition Place, highlighting the advance of Ontario over the previous 50 years. On October 11 the Queen visited
Sheridan College, and later traveled to
Hamilton, Ontario where, at
Copps Coliseum, the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada were presented with their new colours by the Queen as their
Colonel-in-Chief. Later she, accompanied by Prince Philip, attended a reception at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Toronto headquarters to celebrate its 50th anniversary, viewing exhibits, and being amused by a video display which showed her earlier tours of Canada in the 1950s. Following that the couple attended a gala concert at
Roy Thomson Hall where
Oscar Peterson,
Evelyn Hart,
Rex Harrington,
Cirque du Soleil,
The Tragically Hip, and others performed.
The tour continued to the Maritime provinces, with the Queen and her husband arriving in
New Brunswick, where thousands greeted them at the
provincial Government House. They only spent 25 hours in the maritimes, flying from
Fredericton to
Moncton by helicopter for a luncheon in
Dieppe, New Brunswick to celebrate the town's 50th anniversary.
From the east coast the Royal Couple flew westwards again to the national capital,
Ottawa, where they were greeted by then
Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, who had earlier, on the day of the Queen's arrival in Canada, caused controversy by stating
Canada should become a republic. The day following, October 13, a multi-faith Thanksgiving celebration was held on
Parliament Hill for about 3,500 people, and the Queen laid a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A
state dinner was held at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization, in
Gatineau, Quebec, that evening. She there said: "[Iwish] to express my profound gratitude to all Canadians... for the loyalty, encouragement and support you've given to me over these past 50 years." As her motorcade traveled across the Ottawa river into Quebec, about 100 protesters yelled obscenities at the Queen in French, waving Quebec flags and chanting "We want a country, not a monarchy." It was the only protest during the Jubilee tour.
On the last full day of the tour, The Queen attended, as Honorary Commissioner, a performance of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police's
Musical Ride. Her final major event in Canada was a lunch at
Rideau Hall for fifty distinguished Canadians – one from each year of Elizabeth's reign. The Queen also planted another tree on the grounds of
her Canadian residence, and met with members of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
The Queen and Prince Philip departed Canada on
October 15.
As a gift to the Queen in celebration of her Golden Jubilee her Canadian ministers donated $250,000 to the
Dominion Institute's
Memory Project; a project aimed at educating Canadian youth about the experiences and contributions of the nation's veterans from the First World War through to modern day military and peacekeeping missions.
Celebrations outside the Commonwealth Realms
Golden Jubilee celebrations continued outside of London. In the
United States,
New York City lit the
Empire State Building in purple and gold, and New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and officials at the British Consulate in New York City said that it was a sign of saying thank you to the Queen for having the American national anthem played at Buckingham Palace during the
Changing of the Guard, just 2 days after
September 11, 2001, as well as the support the people in Britain gave afterwards. It had been more than 10 years since the Empire State Building gave an honour to somebody not from the United States, the previous occasion being
Nelson Mandela's visit to New York following his release from prison in
1990.
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