Queen's Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II
Photo in the public domain

This is a rare event in the history of the world's monarchies. It's only the UK's second, after Queen Victoria reached the milestone in 1897.

The six decades of Elizabeth II's reign have seen society change beyond recognition. Her Majesty has worked with twelve different Prime Ministers and six different Archbishops of Canterbury. She is the patron of over 600 charities, and has conferred over 400,000 honours. Over the years she has answered no fewer than three and a half million items of correspondence.

Throughout these developments, the Queen has remained a popular and reassuring presence across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The official celebration of this substantial achievement begins on Saturday 2nd June. It then continues throughout the weekend, which will happily last for a whole four days. This elongated holiday has been achieved by moving the spring bank holiday to Monday 4th, and creating a whole new bank holiday on Tuesday 5th.

Reportedly, the Queen herself is modest about the whole affair. She prefers to minimise the use of public funds, and doesn't want to force people to celebrate. Nevertheless, her reign is already considered to be among the most successful in British history, and the jubilee provides the perfect occasion for the world to recognise that fact.

On Saturday 2nd June, the Queen will attend the Epsom Derby. She's a keen horse racing fan who has been a patron of this event for eight full decades, and it'll take a lot more than a jubilee to keep her away!

On Sunday, Elizabeth will board her royal barge to lead a flotilla of over 1000 vessels along the Thames. A million people are expected to watch from the river's crowded banks.

On Monday the BBC have arranged a concert at Buckingham Palace. 10,000 free tickets will be given, by lottery, to lucky members of the public. The evening will be capped off with the lighting of 2012 beacons, all across the UK. These lights are situated everywhere and anywhere, from public schools to mountaintops.

Tuesday 5th is the UK's extra bank holiday, and it finishes off the celebrations with a thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral. A formal carriage procession will give London and the world another chance to show the Queen their respect and appreciation.

This long weekend of events is the highlight of the jubilee year, but it's not all that's happening. Throughout 2012 there will be dozens more parties, exhibitions and fundraisers.

The National Portrait Gallery will organise a touring show of the Queen's paintings, while the Royal Collection will curate displays of rarely-seen objects from all eras of the monarchy.

The Royal Commonwealth Society is creating a digital time capsule, which will record sounds, words and video from members of the public. It will capture the mood and memories of the nation at this historic point in time.

As the celebrations continue, you may notice the official logo for the diamond jubilee. If you think it looks like it was drawn by a ten-year-old, that's because it was. Young Katherine Dewar was the winner of Blue Peter's nationwide competition to find a design that would look forward to the future as much as commemorate the past.

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