Hello. Today is Thursday although it doesn’t feel like one,
mainly because I’ve only had two days at work this week. This is because of the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. She kindly granted us two extra days off to so we
could help her celebrate the 60 year’s she’s been reigning (she came to the
throne on 6th February 1952 yet her Coronation took place on 2nd June 1953). The only other British monarch to
celebrate a Diamond Jubilee was Queen Victoria in 1897, what a babe.
This blog is several days late, for which I apologise,
however I was too busy having fun, loving the Queen and being near to
combusting with excitement over her fantastic celebrations to bring you
anything until now! It’s absolutely no secret that I am slightly Royal family
obsessed. It all started when Diana died (morbid I know) but I visited London
to see all of the flowers and messages left for her and I was intrigued. Last
year saw my interest reach new heights with the Royal wedding of William and
Kate (yes I do own both of the official DVDs and watch them occasionally: bite
me) and ever since that spectacular Royal extravaganza I’ve been longing for
more. Thankfully my wish was granted over the last weekend.
I could literally write a dissertation length review of the
weekend however I want people to actually read this so we’ll cut it down into
sections and bullet points.
Saturday 2nd June:
The Queen kick started her four day Diamond Jubilee
celebrations on Saturday by attending the Epsom Derby alongside Phillip Duke of
Edinburgh. Wearing a
bright, eye-catching blue coat and hat over a floral gown, she waved to
supporters as she was greeted by loud cheers before watching the event.
Sunday 3rd June:
Sunday’s celebrations revolved around the Flotilla, which
was held along the river Thames and involved over 600 boats and the Royal
Barge. Over a million spectators braved the rain and grey clouds to witness
this once-in-a-lifetime special occasion along the banks of the River Thames. In
fact the last Flotilla to take place was over 300 years ago.
Joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry Her Majesty looked divine dressed in a
beautiful white and silver outfit (designed and made by Angela Kelly, it took a
year of planning) matching coat, shift dress, hat and a shawl draped over her
shoulders as it was quite clearly cold out. She also clutched on to a patent
black handbag: a woman after my own heart!
Kate wore a red Alexander
McQueen dress which has previously also been worn by Kim Kardashian and Tulisa.
However Kate, unlike the other two just mentioned, looked elegant and regal.
Both William and Harry were dressed in Uniform, I’m not sure which ones I don’t
remember but they looked dapper nonetheless!
Although there
were two beautiful red thrones for her (and Philip) to sit down on not once
did she, instead opting to watch the whole show upon her feet. The television
cameras picked up on several occasions where her flawless (for an 86 year old)
face lit up having noticed certain things. For example the War Horse on the top
of the Theatre drew a big smile! However, one of my personal favourite moments
of the day was when Tower Bridge lifted up, just like in the Spice Movie!
Monday 4th
June:
The third day of
celebrations saw the Diamond Jubilee concert (which I applied for tickets for
and sadly didn’t receive any... not that I’m bitter or anything. *grits teeth*)
However unlike me, tens of
thousands of people, who also weren’t lucky enough to get tickets lined The
Mall to watch the show and fireworks light up the Queen's iconic residence in
central London. Another person who wasn’t able to attend was Prince Philip who
had sadly been hospitalised with a bladder infection.
Some of the acts lucky
enough to take to the special stage included Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Paul
McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Robbie Williams and Annie Lennox. Pop legends from
the last 60 years. Gary Barlow will undoubtedly be knighted sometime soon after
organising the musical extravaganza. Also my recent favourite person Will I Am also tweeted some absolutely hilarious pictures on his Twitter of his day. Classic!
After a near
enough two hour concert and a heartfelt and very sincere speech from Prince
Charles (in which he paid tribute to and humorously called the Queen “mummy”)
it was time for the most spectacular 4 minutes of fireworks I think I will ever
see. They were absolutely incredible and the perfect end to an amazing evening.
Tuesday 5th
June:
On Tuesday the Diamond Jubilee weekend culminated with a day
of celebrations in central London, including a service at St Paul’s Cathedral
followed by two receptions, a lunch at Westminster Hall, a Carriage Procession
to Buckingham Palace and finally a Balcony appearance, Flypast, and Feu de
Joie.
Dressed in a mint green ensemble Her Majesty looked as
radiant as ever, even though she’d had an awfully long last few days. After the
service at St Paul’s Cathedral it was time for the moment I had been waiting
for: the carriage procession and it didn’t disappoint. The Princes’ all donned
top hats which made me chuckle as they made their way from the Palace of
Westminster to Buckingham Palace. There was also a “mounted band” on trotting horses
which was quite simply amazing.
After a little wait it was time for another favourite moment
of mine: the balcony appearance. The red drape was set, and it reminded me
completely of last year’s wedding. Out stepped the Queen followed by Prince
Charles, Camilla, William, Kate and Harry (a much smaller group in comparison
to the wedding) to an overwhelming amount of cheers, waving hands and Union
Jack flags. Kate and Harry chatted and laughed amongst themselves whilst William
passed comment about how it was “a bit wet” to his Grandmother. She waved
several times whilst looking out to the sea of people filling the Mall whilst
waiting for the plane display. 18 aircrafts, including 4 spitfires and the Red
Arrows (who streamed red, white and blue) flew low over Buckingham Palace in
tribute to the Queen, whilst she watched from below, absolutely beaming. After
that there was a special salute from her Guards called the Feu de Joie, which
involved shooting some sort of guns followed by the National Anthem and some
hip-hip-hooray’s. And after all of that, the Royal 6 retired back into the
warmth of Buckingham Palace and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations were over,
much to my utter dismay.
Now, after witnessing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations I
have several questions that I’m longing to be answered:
1) What does the Queen keep in her handbag? Does she store an
array of different lipglosses like myself?
2) Why on earth was she left to hold her own umbrella on Sunday
when it started raining and she was leaving the Royal Barge?
3) How does one go about getting a carriage similar (and just
as extravagant) to the one she used on Tuesday? I desperately want one.
4) Does Her Majesty know who Cheryl is? And will she be
purchasing Call My Name when it is released on the 9th of June?
5) Lastly why the heck wasn’t I invited as Harry’s guest?
After all everyone knows that “three’s a crowd” Harry…! Hashtag just sayin’
Now, unlike me there will be some of you out there reading this who didn't enjoy the celebrations and don’t like our Monarch, insisting that she doesn’t do enough to receive all that she does (including the last long weekend) and to all
of you, I say this: I don’t care if she doesn’t do much, I’d much rather pay my
taxes to the Queen than to some good-for-nothing lazy benefit scrounger who has
never worked a day in their life (even though they are more than capable) and instead
opting to for the easy route and letting others pay for them. The Queen makes me proud to be British, unlike those
people I have just described and watching her enjoy the celebrations, along with millions of other proud Britain's made me even prouder.
God Save the Queen (and roll on the Platinum Jubilee! Yeaaahhhh!)
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