The Reign
The King is dead. Long live the Queen. On a grey, inauspicious day in February 1952, we boys were gathered in the school hall, and the mayor, arrayed in his chain of office, proclaimed Princess Elizabeth Queen of Great Britain, her Dominions and Commonwealth. We pledged allegiance to her. All had to be done before the royal funeral. There must be no interregnum when an imposter may claim the throne.
We lived mean and dour lives in those days. London smog due to air pollution killed 12,000 people that year. Food was rationed. Repression was rife; The USA denied Charlie Chaplin permission to return to his home in the USA, and the church of Rome banned the works of André Gide. Catholics, Protestants or Atheists were not permitted to read D H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. But the Elizabethan age brought better times, as pithily recorded by Phillip Larkin:-
Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) –
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles’ first LP.
Life has continued to improve over the years. There have been ups and downs and from time-to-time journalists speculate about an abdication, entirely forgetting or ignoring a promise made by Elizabeth at age 21 to serve us all her days, whether her life be long or short.
The Queen
The Queen is trustworthy, not one to renege on a promise nor to play easy with treaties. She does her duty, even now, and has offered us constancy, dependability and loyalty, which is especially important at present. It is these virtues that we celebrate at the Platinum Jubilee. Age has weakened her but not wearied her mind. Our Queen was able to follow at home the events she was unable to attend.
The Jubilee
We have witnessed the Trooping of the Colour by the Irish Guards this year. The army pledges its allegiance to the Monarch and the troops can look her in the eye, which they did when marching past Buckingham Palace. The service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral included a new anthem By Wisdom by the Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir, CBE. The Prime Minister read from Philippians 4. 4-9, which some might find ironic.
Not to be outdone, the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage CBE, has written a poem, Queenhood, which you can read here on The Times newspaper.
Or you can listen to an interview of Poet Laureate Simon Armitage in this video:
Less formal events followed the pageantry and those present in The Mall were able to see the Queen and others on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Parades and Pageants followed and an evening concert where, in my opinion, the stars of the show were the lighting engineers.
Our Jubilees
Some from Chandler’s Ford were able to witness official events in London. Most of us watched some or all on the TV.
Chandler’s Ford arranged street parties, gatherings and the like. Otterbourne had a beacon, and villages lit signal fires across the country. Flags and bunting appeared in unexpected places. Some surprising decorations appeared; a garden full of glittering windmills is one. Hilliers Gardens arranged a Crown Hunt for its young visitors. Our grandchildren found a dozen crowns between swings, climbing frames, a picnic by the lake and ice creams.
Our street party came to a halt when we had to face up to the bureaucracy involved. One hundred and twenty-five sheets of paper, correctly filled in, is the price for road closure. Happily, our Jubilee party was re-arranged in someone’s garden. The forecast was for rain, and we prepared with gazebos and umbrellas. But the weather gods shifted the rain through earlier, and we were dry. Some neighbours met for the first time since COVID, and others, newcomers to our road, we spoke to for the first time. Champagne flowed, and we toasted the Queen. Our Master of Ceremonies read a speech made at the coronation.
Towards the end of the proceedings, a genius had arranged for an ice cream van to stop by. So the children dropped their hoola hoops, deck quoits, bubble loops and balls to accept red, white and blue ice creams.
The Future
The holiday has been an important diversion from past difficulties and problems to come. We feel re-energised to move into the future.
Now that the bunting is coming down, what of the future? In the nature of things, we shall soon have King Charles III. Some of the goodwill and affection shown to our Queen during these last three days will transfer to the monarchy. The institution will continue but will there ever be another Platinum Jubilee?
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