Elizabeth II made a second and brief appearance on the balcony on Sunday, during the grand parade retracing her reign.
English facetiousness is as inimitable as it is immutable. And the queen embodies it wonderfully, teaching a lesson to those who confuse duty with the spirit of seriousness. We remember the incredible video shot in 2012 for the opening of the London Olympics, when Elizabeth II spawned with James Bond and vicariously parachuted from a helicopter. In the same spirit, the palace posted a surprise video of the sovereign having tea with Paddington Bear, an icon of British children’s literature, on Saturday evening. We then see her beating time with a silver spoon on her porcelain cup, to the rhythm of the opening of the giant concert in front of Buckingham Palace, in which stars such as the group Queen, Rod Stewart or Diana Ross participated. As of Sunday morning, the video had already been viewed more than 2 million times.
For Elizabeth II, it was a great way to be present when her now fragile health forced her to take it easy. The party will have been beautiful, but the queen often attended it from afar, behind her television set in her Windsor castle. Thursday, she had appeared on the balcony of Buckingham – tired but smiling – on the occasion of the military parade of Trooping the Color (“Hail to the flag”). But due to a “some discomfort”the one who has more and more difficulty in moving did not attend the thanksgiving mass at Saint Paul’s Cathedral on Friday.
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On Saturday, this riding enthusiast also did not attend the famous Epsom Derby. Sunday, for the closing of the jubilee, however, she wanted to make a second and brief appearance on the balcony, on the occasion of the great eccentric parade bringing together soldiers, dancers and artists, retracing the great moments of this seventy-year reign. . In a thank you message made public by Buckingham Palace and signed by her hand, the monarch said she would stay “determined to serve” the British and “deeply touched that so many people took to the streets to celebrate my platinum jubilee”. Previously, despite threatening rain, some 10 million Britons had taken part in “patriotic lunches” between neighbors.
Moment of unity and trust
It was therefore Charles who was on the front line during these four days of jubilee, one more symbolic step for a smooth transition. During the concert, the Crown Prince paid tribute to his “Majesty, Mom”. “You laugh and cry with us and above all, you have been there for these seventy years”, he said. These celebrations have confirmed the attachment of a large majority of Britons to the monarchy, attested by all the polls.
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After years of heartbreak over Brexit, the jubilee was also a moment of renewed unity and confidence for the country. According to the press, the parenthesis could be short-lived. Boris Johnson could face a vote of no confidence from Conservative MPs this week if the latest developments in “Partygate” have swung at least 54 of them into rebellion.