Buckingham Palace unveiled on Monday the program of the festivities scheduled from June 2 to 5 to celebrate the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. While some events are part of the tradition, others are more original.
To celebrate “this unprecedented anniversary”, two days will notably be public holidays. The festivities will start on Thursday, June 2 with a military parade, then 1,500 cities in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the British Overseas Territories as well as the capitals of the Commonwealth countries will light a torch “to mark the Jubilee”.
On Friday, a ceremony will be held at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in central London.
The next day, a huge concert bringing together “the biggest stars in the world to celebrate some of the most important moments of the Queen’s reign” will take place at Buckingham Palace.
On Sunday, more than 1,400 “big Jubilee lunches” organized by volunteers are already planned across the country.
Planted trees and puddings dedicated to the queen
Finally, to close the festivities, a huge parade combining “theater, circus, music, street arts” will take place in London. “Artists, dancers, musicians, soldiers, key workers and volunteers (…) will unite to tell the story of the 70 years of the Queen’s reign in an impressive festival of creativity,” the palace promised.
In parallel with these events, other more original initiatives will be carried out. The “Jubilee green canopy”, for example, must be created, with the planting in 2022 of 60,000 trees across the country.
There will also be a national pastry competition open to everyone from the age of 8, “to find a brand new pudding dedicated to the queen”. The five finalists will prepare their dish in front of a jury, including the head chef of the palace. The winning recipe will then be made available to the public to be reproduced during the “big Jubilee lunches”, but also later “by the generations to come”.
As a reminder, Elizabeth II became queen at the age of 25, on February 6, 1952, after the death of her father George VI. On the same date in 2022, the 95-year-old sovereign will become the first British monarch to reach 70 years of reign at the head of the United Kingdom (Platinum Jubilee), but also of 14 Commonwealth countries and 14 overseas territories. -Wed.
