Having reached an incredible seventy years of reign in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest reigning monarch, and has celebrated many royal jubilee milestones as a result.
Throughout this blog, we will be exploring the four royal jubilees that the Queen has achieved and the key events that took place during each one.
Silver Jubilee
After ascending to the throne in 1952, the first royal jubilee that the Queen reached was the Silver Jubilee. This jubilee marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. The anniversary date itself was 6th February 1977 and was commemorated in church services across the country throughout that month. The Queen spent the anniversary weekend with her family at Windsor. The full jubilee celebrations began in the summer, with preparations for larger parties in every major city of the UK starting in March.
During the summer months, The Queen undertook a large scale Royal tour of the UK, having said that she wanted to mark her jubilee by meeting as many of the people as possible. The trip lasted three months, and in that time the Queen and Prince Philip visited a total of 36 counties; something that no other monarch had achieved in such a short span of time. The Queen also made official overseas visits towards the end of summer, visiting Western Samoa, Australia, Tonga, Fuji, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea, Canada and the West Indies. It was estimated that during 1977, Her Majesty and her husband travelled a total of 56,000 miles.
The celebrations for the Silver Jubilee ended in June with official ‘Jubilee Days’ to coincide with The Queen’s Official Birthday. During the evening of 6th June, the Queen lit a bonfire beacon at Windsor, which started a chain of beacons across the country. On 7th June, vast crowds gathered to see The Queen travel in the Gold State Coach to St Paul’s Cathedral for a Service of Thanksgiving. Afterwards, The Queen and the Royal Family attended a lunch at the Guildhall, and an estimated 500 million people watched on television as the procession returned down the Mall, back to Buckingham Palace. The final event was a river progress down the Thames from Greenwich to Lambeth that took place on 9th June. The Queen opened the Silver Jubilee Walkway and the new South Bank Jubilee Gardens, the journey ended with a firework display, and a procession of lighted carriages took The Queen back to Buckingham Palace so that the Royal Family could assemble on the balcony.
Golden Jubilee
In 2002, The Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee; marking the 50th anniversary of her accession. It was intended by The Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50-year reign and an opportunity for her to officially and personally thank her people for their loyalty. There were six key themes that shaped the Golden Jubilee events: Celebration, Community, Service, Past and Future, Giving thanks, and Commonwealth. This jubilee was marked with large-scale and popular events throughout London in June of the same year, supported by events throughout the Commonwealth realms.
As with the Silver Jubilee, The Queen and Prince Philip went on extensive tours of the UK and the Commonwealth. Over a twelve-month period, the couple travelled more than 40,000 miles to the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, around the UK, and then wrapped up the jubilee year in Canada. The Queen officially launched the celebrations in the UK with a speech to both Houses of the British parliament at Westminster Hall on 30th April, after attending a dinner at 10 Downing Street for her and all her living former British Prime Ministers, hosted by Tony Blair.
The Golden Jubilee Weekend commenced between 1st and 4th June in London. On the first evening, the Prom at the Palace took place in Buckingham Palace gardens, highlighting classical music. The following day, Her Majesty and Prince Philip attended a church service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. On 3rd June, The Queen launched the nationwide BBC Music Live Festival, where more than 200 towns and cities across the UK public played ‘All You Need Is Love’ by the Beatles. During the day, street parties were held across the country, and in the evening the Royal Family attended the Party at the Palace, with headlining acts such as Paul McCartney, Brian May and Cliff Richard. For the final day, the Royal Family attended the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, with The Queen arriving in the Gold State Coach, followed by lunch at the Guildhall. After the jubilee procession from The Mall to Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family assembled on the balcony to watch a flypast consisting of every type of Royal Air Force aircraft.
Diamond Jubilee
Reaching the 60th anniversary of ascension to the throne was a momentous occasion for Queen Elizabeth II, as she is only the second monarch ever to have celebrated this milestone, with the first being Queen Victoria in 1897. Because of this, Britons were given an extra bank holiday to mark the occasion, and the Spring Bank holiday was moved to create a four-day bank holiday weekend. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations marked the beginning of the withdrawal of Prince Philip from public life, and a more eminent role for the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry in Commonwealth affairs.
To coincide with the other jubilees, The Queen and Prince Philip took part in a series of regional tours throughout the UK, while other members of the Royal Family visited the Commonwealth realms between them. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were visited by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and Tuvalu and Malaysia were visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In order to leave a lasting legacy across the Commonwealth, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust was set up as a charitable foundation.
The four-day bank holiday weekend began with The Queen’s visit to the Epsom Derby. On the Sunday, ‘Big Jubilee Lunches’ were held across the UK, where people were encouraged to share lunch with neighbours and friends as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, as part of the ‘Big Lunch’ initiative. The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant also took place on Sunday, with 1,000 boats assembled from across the UK and the Commonwealth. The Queen and Prince Philip formed the centrepiece by travelling in the Royal Barge. The Diamond Jubilee Concert commenced the following day, with performances from Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, Will.I.Am and Grace Jones. After the concert, The Queen lit the National Beacon which followed the lighting of 2,012 beacons across the UK and the Commonwealth. The celebrations came to an end with a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, a lunch at Westminster Hall, a Carriage Procession to Buckingham Palace so that the Royal Family could make a Balcony appearance and watch the Flypast.
Platinum Jubilee
The Platinum Jubilee celebrations have already commenced this year, with Britons being granted a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from 2nd to 5th June to participate in the main celebratory events. As Queen Elizabeth II is the first monarch ever to reach a Platinum Jubilee in British History, it is expected that this jubilee will be the biggest celebrated event ever. From Trooping the Colour to street parties across the country, you can find out everything you need to know about the 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebratory weekend on our previous blog HERE.
