THIS MONTH sees celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the first, and perhaps the last, time the nation has marked such a remarkable anniversary.
Before the reign of the present monarch such occasions were rare, which may come as a surprise to anyone born since the Second World War, for whom this month’s Platinum Jubilee is the fourth in 45 years.
The Queen’s grandfather, George V, celebrated his silver jubilee in 1935 – the first monarch to celebrate 25 years on the throne – and before that you had to go back to his grandmother, Queen Victoria, who celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 1887 followed by her Diamond celebration a decade later.
Jubilees are important moments, not just as an opportunity for people across these islands to unite in marking a significant landmark in the monarch’s reign, but also for what they tell us about the state of the nation at the time. And of course they provide vivid memories of a people coming together in celebration, be it street parties and bunting, 50-gun salutes, parades and balcony appearances – or Brian May performing the National Anthem from the roof of Buckingham Palace.
Early jubilees
There was no Brian May equivalent on the roof of Buckingham Palace in 1809 when King George III reached his golden jubilee but the rather less high-profile celebrations did start the tradition of marking royal anniversaries
