60 years is a long time. I remember when Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952. I was in 6th grade, and we watched the ceremony on a 12 inch black and white TV in my grandmothers house downstairs from us. It was an impressive ceremony, awesome in contemporary parlance. It was interesting to see such a beautiful young woman being crowned head of state. Now they celebrate for four days in a British way.
There were no big speeches, no grand moments. Just ordinary stuff, put together, made up as it were to celebrate. Millions of Brits lined the boat and parade routes. Does anybody work in Britain? Thousands of boats floated along the Thames on Sunday, powered by human energy or even coal. The royal philharmonic played through a rain storm and when they played a hokey tune that I remember from “Pirates of Penzance” people including the Queen, Prince Philip , and other members of the royal family, and some of the crowd, “danced.” Now this was difficult to see. It wasn’t a jitterbug or rumba or waltz, just people bobbing up and down for several seconds. Discreetly restrained.
And for me, that’s the way the celebration continued. Very orderly. They played “My country tis of thee”…oops! “God save the Queen’” dozens of time. They cheered the Queen, “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!” twice that I noticed. One cheer was led by Prince Charles, the man who has lived in his mother’s shadow for 60 years, waiting patiently for his turn at the throne. And then there is the wave of the royal family, all schooled in the etiquette of waving, hands always within the shoulders, and not higher than the head. It was so, so restrained.
About the only thing that wasn’t perfect was the horse dung. They had hundreds of horses in the parades, and I guess horses rule parades. No one swept up the dung like they do in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade or the Rose parade. No! The drum major led the bands right through the mess. Now that’s discipline!
All in all, it was a great tribute to the Queen, who in a way has been the only Queen I have ever known to exist. I know she does a lot of things, and continues to do her job as a public servant. She is kind and gentle. Accepts all the adulation with a smile. Probably is very humble. She seems to like her job…why not? I did feel sorry for her today as she had to face these celebrations without her life partner, Philip, by her side. He has always been there, and “Hip, hip, hooray!” for him.
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