LONDON –
Britain is preparing for a party with cavalry, solemn prayers and a package of dancing mechanical corgis.
The nation will celebrate the 1970s on the throne of Queen Elizabeth II this week with four days of pomp and a procession in central London. But behind the brass bands, street parties and the planned appearance of the aging queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace lies a desire to show that the royal family still remains relevant after seven decades of change.
“The monarchy is not elected, so the only way a monarch can show consent is through the ballot box, not through people taking to the streets,” said Robert Lacey, a historical adviser on the Crown series. “And if the monarch appears on the balcony and waves his hand and there is no one there, this is a very definite sentence for the monarchy.
“Well, when it comes to Elizabeth, the opposite is true. “People can’t wait to have a lot of fun together,” he added.
And members of the royal family, sometimes criticized for having no ties to modern Britain, want to show that their support comes from all parts of a society that has become more multicultural amid immigration from the Caribbean, South Asia and Eastern Europe.
As part of the jubilee competition, dancers from the Afro-Caribbean community in London will wear costumes of giant flamingos, zebras and giraffes to re-imagine the moment in 1952 when, as Princess Elizabeth II, she learned she had become queen while visiting play park in kenya. Another group will remember the Queen’s marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 and will celebrate weddings in the British community with Bollywood-style dancing.
The anniversary is an opportunity for members of the royal family to demonstrate their commitment to change and diversity, something the Queen has embodied as she has traveled the world for the past 70 years, said Emily Nash, Royal Editor of HELLO! magazine.
“She has been everywhere and worked with people from all walks of life,” Nash said. “I think it’s easy to see, in something like pomp and pomp, maybe more than a lack of diversity. But if you look at what the royal family actually does, the people they get involved with, the places they go, I think it might be a little unfair to say it’s not as diverse as it could be.
If the depleted stocks in the Cool Britannia gift shop are any indication, the anniversary has attracted public attention. The store around the corner from Buckingham Palace has run out of platinum anniversary towels. Spoons are rare. The glasses are in short supply.
And not only foreign tourists buy everything that Elizabeth II. Visitors from across the UK are also looking for anniversary memories, said Ismail Ibrahim, the man behind the counter.
“This is a very special year,” he said. “They celebrate it as a big event.”
The question for Windsor’s house is whether the audience will pass on their love for the Queen to her son and heir, Prince Charles, when the time comes.
This is a problem that stems in part from the Queen’s unprecedented reign, the longest in British history. The only monarch most people knew, she became synonymous with the monarchy itself.
Ever since taking the throne after her father’s death on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth II has been a symbol of stability as the country negotiates the end of the Empire, the birth of the computer age and mass migration that turns Britain into a multicultural society.
The shy woman with a small handbag, a towed corgi, and a passion for horses led an era that gave birth to the Monty Python, the Beatles, and the Sex Pistols. People who thought they knew her were wrong – as evidenced by her stellar role as a Bond girl at the 2012 London Olympics.
Yet through all this, the Queen built a connection with the nation through a seemingly endless series of public appearances as she opened libraries, specialized hospitals, and paid tribute to deserving citizens.
Susan Dudridge senses this connection. The Somerset administrator will dance in the platinum anniversary competition, 69 years after her father paraded in the queen’s coronation parade.
“I think it’s amazing that the country always gets together when there’s a wedding, a royal anniversary, whatever the members of the royal family are involved in,” she said. “We love the queen!”
The last two years have highlighted the strengths of the monarchy, while the Queen has consistently comforted a nation isolated from COVID-19 and thanked doctors and nurses battling the disease.
But his weaknesses were also shown, as the 96-year-old monarch buried his husband and was amused by health problems that forced her to transfer important public duties to Charles. This came amid too much public tension with Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, who have made accusations of racism and harassment in the royal household, and disgusting allegations about Prince Andrew’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Against this background, the jubilee is also part of the efforts to prepare the audience for the day on which Charles takes the throne. Now 73, Charles has spent much of his life preparing to be king and struggling with a slightly suffocating image that was not helped by his ugly divorce from the still adored Princess Diana.
It is reported that Charles may play a key role during the first event of the anniversary weekend, congratulating passing soldiers during the annual military review known as Trooping the Color. The queen will attend the 400-year-old ceremony, which marks her official birthday if she feels well, but will decide on the day.
Elizabeth II, who had only recently recovered from COVID-19 and began using a cane, gave Charles an increasingly important role as a public figure in the monarchy. Earlier this month, he replaced his mother when what the palace described as “episodic mobility problems” prevented her from chairing the state opening of parliament.
Yet in the days that followed, she took part in a horse show, opened a subway line and toured the Chelsea flower show in a driver-driven royal buggy – something like a luxury golf cart.
“There is no management plan of this length, and I think the palace and courtiers have to improvise all the time,” said Ed Owens, a royal historian and author of The Family Business: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public 1932-1953.
“In the case of Elizabeth II, we have not had such an elderly monarch who has reigned so long and is so important to so many people who essentially have to transfer her role to the next.”
But don’t expect the queen to leave the stage soon.
Robert Hardman, biographer and author of The Queen of Our Time: The Life of Elizabeth II, said he expects to see an even bigger party in four years, when Elizabeth II turns 100.
“The 100th birthday raises an intriguing prospect: will she send a card to herself?” Hardman thought, referring to the Queen’s tradition of sending a personal birthday card to anyone who reaches this stage. I look forward to this debate in 2026.
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