The 96-year-old monarch, who has difficulty walking, has stayed away from the main festivities organized for her 70-year reign, a record longevity. She did not attend the religious ceremony on Friday, nor her beloved horse races on Saturday, nor the giant concert in front of her palace, and did not speak publicly.
She surprised her subjects by returning to the famous balcony, where the British monarchy has marked major events for more than a century and where it launched the four-day feast on Thursday.
Accompanied by her heirs Prince Charles, 73, and William, soon to be 40, with wives and children, embodying the future of the monarchy, she greeted the tens of thousands of people massed on the Mall, the avenue leading to the palace. Leaning on a cane, dressed in green, she stayed while the anthem “God Save The Queen” was played and then left.
Its exit had not been announced and was the subject of speculation throughout the parade concluding its jubilee through central London, which saw a succession of 260-year-old golden carriages, soldiers in ceremonial dress come from all over the Commonwealth, then actors, dancers and even puppets of corgis, his favorite dogs, for a carnival-like parade.
It was only fifteen minutes before her appearance that the suspense was lifted: the flag was raised at the top of the mast overlooking the palace, a sign that the monarch is there, delighting the public present.
Across the United Kingdom, tens of thousands of lunches and picnics between neighbors were organized on Sunday despite rainy weather to joyfully celebrate the historic reign of an extremely popular queen, both close and mysterious, a reassuring symbol of stability in a century of great upheaval.
In Windsor, 488 tables had been set up on the driveway leading to the castle where the Queen resides, while Prince Charles and his wife Camilla shared tea and canapes with the public on a cricket pitch.
The heirs in the foreground
Throughout the festivities, Elizabeth II left her heirs front and center, confirming her gradual withdrawal in recent months and the impression many attendees of the end-of-an-era celebrations had had after an unprecedented reign that began on February 6. 1952 in a United Kingdom still a colonial Empire and subject to post-war rationing.
In addition to her appearance on the balcony, however, she marked her presence with another surprise on Saturday evening. Known for her sense of duty but also her humor, the queen had shot a short video where she has tea with Paddington bear, a clumsy icon of British children’s literature.
She then beat time with a silver spoon on her porcelain cup, synchronized with the opening of the concert. Audience for the event reached a peak of 13.4 million viewers on the BBC, a sign of the monarchy’s continuing strength of communion.
The latest festivities put an end to a four-day break for the British in a period of runaway inflation and political scandals.
“A perfume of farewell”
Many of the participants in the festivities were aware of the historical dimension of the moment. Never has a British monarch reigned so long and it is unlikely that this 70-year record will be broken in the future given the age of his heirs. Transition is underway, and while the Queen has no intention of stepping down, true to her 1947 promise to serve her subjects all her life, she is preparing them for what comes next.
“Inevitably, these celebrations had a flavor of farewell,” said columnist Tony Parsons in the tabloid The Sun. “There has been genuine joy abroad and in this country over the past few days. But there is also the keen awareness that we will never see a monarch like that again. »
“We look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm,” she had written to them at the start of the Jubilee celebrations. Already in February, the date on which she had officially reached 70 years of reign, she had written to them: “When in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king, I know that you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support you gave me”. Elizabeth II had at the time decided a sensitive question in the United Kingdom, the future title of Camilla, who will become queen consort.
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