Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

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Equestrian statue of Elizabeth II in Regina (Saskatchewan) , created on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the throne

The Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. ( Engl. Golden Jubilee ) in 2002 was the 50th anniversary of the enthronement of the British Queen Elizabeth II. The international celebrations sought the queen then, on the one hand of five decades as monarch of various Commonwealth realm to commemorate, on the other hand, to thank them officially and personally for the support and loyalty during their reign. Following the deaths of her sister Margaret and Queen Mother Elizabeth earlier this year, there was speculation from the media that the anniversary would be a failure. However, the numerous festivities went as planned, with the Golden Jubilee Weekend in London as the highlight in early June. The Queen visited several Commonwealth Realms with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , covering more than 40,000 miles. Numerous sights, parks, buildings and the like were named in honor of the golden jubilee.

In the Commonwealth Realms

Jamaica

The first official events in connection with the golden jubilee took place in Jamaica . This country, whose head of state Elisabeth had been since 1952, celebrated the 40th anniversary of independence in the same year. The Queen arrived there on February 18, 2002, nine days after the death of her sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon . She first arrived in Montego Bay and then traveled on to Kingston . Despite a certain anti-royal mood that prevailed in the country at the time, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were "enthusiastically received" by the Jamaicans; In an opinion poll, 57% of those questioned said the visit was important for the country. Great crowds came to see the queen; but there were also minor protests by Rastafarians demanding redress for slavery and their return to Africa. She met Jamaican veterans of the First World War at the official reception at the King's House, the residence of the Governor General . She gave a speech in front of the Jamaican Parliament and visited the poor neighborhood of Trenchtown . The trip ended with a small incident: at the final banquet, a power failure shrouded the King's House in darkness; Elisabeth described this event as "unforgettable".

New Zealand

After visiting Jamaica, the Queen traveled on to New Zealand , with stays in Auckland , Taupo , Christchurch and Wellington . She and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived on February 22nd, just after Prime Minister Helen Clark gave a speech saying that it was "inevitable" that New Zealand would one day be a republic. The royal couple was received by the governor general and other dignitaries. Clark was absent and preferred to travel to Stockholm for a political meeting . The interest of the population was low; few came to see them at the airport. About 4000 spectators were counted during their visit to Auckland.

Australia

On February 27, Elisabeth arrived in Australia and was received by Governor General Peter Hollingworth . Hollingworth was embroiled in heated controversy at the time for attempting to cover up allegations of child abuse in the Anglican Church of Australia . For this reason, the royal couple was greeted not only by a few thousand spectators, but also by demonstrators who demanded the resignation of the governor-general. Elisabeth and Philip went on a five-day trip through the states of South Australia and Queensland . At Coolum Beach they attended the meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations . Thanksgiving services were held in churches on the Queen's official birthday, and a bonfire was lit at the Governor General's residence in Canberra .

In Great Britain

Elizabeth II golden jubilee celebrations took place across the United Kingdom between May and July 2002 . In advance, the media - especially The Guardian newspaper - speculated that the anniversary would be a failure. They argued that the British were no longer interested in the monarchy; a feeling of indifference on the part of the population seemed to confirm this. However, the predictions proved wrong when the British flocked to the festivals by the hundreds of thousands. The high point was reached on June 4th on The Mall in London , when over a million people attended the parade. The Daily Mail ridiculed the critics in a comment: “How the sour anti-royalists in The Guardian and elsewhere have been confused. They were convinced that the event would be a flop, that the House of Windsor would no longer be able to inspire loyalty as in earlier times and that the concept of monarchy in Cool Britannia was a thing of the past . "

Trips and receptions

Funeral procession for the Queen Mother

On March 3, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh returned from Australia. At the end of the month, the Queen suffered another setback when her mother died on March 30th at the age of 101. On April 9th, the day of the Queen Mother's funeral, more than a million people lined the streets at Westminster Abbey and on the 37 km walk to her final resting place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle . Despite the death, planning in the UK continued as planned. The festivities began with a banquet at 10 Downing Street at Prime Minister Tony Blair's on April 29th, attended by all former Prime Ministers still alive ( John Major , Margaret Thatcher , Edward Heath , James Callaghan ). The following day the Queen made a speech in Westminster Hall in front of both Houses of Parliament .

The UK's official visits by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh began on May 1st. They first traveled through various parts of England , then through Northern Ireland . In mid-May they attended the Chelsea Flower Show in London , reopened the Queen's Gallery and were received by the Royal Academy of Arts . They continued their travels on May 23rd with a six-day stay in Scotland . After the Golden Jubilee Weekend in London, they traveled through Wales for three days . Further official visits to the north and east of England followed in July; Among other things, they visited the set of the soap opera Emmerdale . The Queen opened the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester . Further visits to northern England followed at the end of July.

In addition to numerous independently organized events on the occasion of the anniversary, the celebration organized by the British Army in June aroused interest. 6,000 soldiers from all three branches of the armed forces took part in a parade in Portsmouth , along with 300 members of the Queen's Life Guards. For the first time in centuries, the Honorable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms , the Yeomen of the Guard and Yeoman Warders were united in one parade. Elizabeth also hosted a banquet for all ruling monarchs of Europe and a banquet for all incumbent Governors General, as well as garden parties at Buckingham Palace and Holyrood Palace , to which were invited to persons born on the day of her accession on February 6, 1952. In total, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paid an official visit to 38 counties within 50 days.

Golden Jubilee Weekend

Crowd in front of Buckingham Palace
The Red Arrows and the Concorde fly over Buckingham Palace

The highlight of the celebrations for the jubilee was the Golden Jubilee Weekend from June 1st to 4th, 2002 in London . On the first evening, on Saturday, the Prom at the Palace took place in the garden of Buckingham Palace . The BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Chorus performed in front of 12,500 viewers (drawn from two million interested people) . Guest singers included Kiri Te Kanawa , Thomas Allen , Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna . The following day the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle ; they represented their family members in Swansea , Salisbury and Ayr .

Via Eton and Slough , the royal couple returned to London on June 3rd. The Queen kicked off the nationwide BBC Music Live Festival at 1:00 pm; The Beatles song All You Need Is Love was played simultaneously in over 200 British cities . Street festivals took place all over the country and in the evening the royal family was united in the garden of Buckingham Palace for another musical event: The Party at the Palace presented the popular music of the past 50 years, with performances a. a. by Paul McCartney , Eric Clapton , Joe Cocker , and Phil Collins . The concert was opened by Queen guitarist Brian May , who played the national anthem on his guitar while standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace. 12,000 spectators followed the concert in the garden, a further million on The Mall on big screens.

On July 4th, the entire royal family attended the national thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral , to which the Queen went in the golden state carriage. Over lunch at the Guildhall , the Queen gave a speech to express her pride in the commonwealth's accomplishments. She was quoted as saying, “Gratitude, respect, and pride; these three words summarize what I feel for the people in this country and in the Commonwealth - and what this golden jubilee means for me. ”In the early afternoon the jubilee procession followed along The Mall; In addition to street performers, there were numerous decorated floats that illustrated everyday British life during Elizabeth's reign. The parade ended with 5000 adults and children from all 54 states of the Commonwealth of Nations in their respective national costumes. In front of over a million spectators, the royal family gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the flight parade. All aircraft types of the Royal Air Force (27 in total), a Concorde and the Red Arrows aerobatic team were involved .

There was only one negative incident related to the Golden Jubilee Weekend reported in the media: two dozen activists from the anarchist group Movement Against the Monarchy were arrested during a protest on June 4th. Since their detention by the Metropolitan Police was without explanation, they were awarded financial compensation in 2004 following an out-of-court agreement.

In Canada

For twelve days in October 2012, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh traveled through Canada . For the first time ever, a royal journey took us through the new territory of Nunavut . In Iqaluit , the Queen opened the constituent session of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on October 4th . In Victoria , she watched an air show by the Snowbirds aerobatic team and unveiled a stained glass in the parliament building. In Vancouver , she accompanied Wayne Gretzky to an ice hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks on October 6 ; At General Motors Place , she threw the ceremonial first puck on the ice in front of 18,000 spectators . It was the first time ever that a monarch had taken on this role. On the grounds of the Parliament building in Regina , Elisabeth unveiled an equestrian statue depicting herself and her Burmese horse (she had received this horse as a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1969 ). She unveiled another statue on the roof of the Winnipeg Parliament Building and attended a performance by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (with Loreena McKennitt as a guest singer).

On October 9th, the royal couple attended a festival at Exhibition Place in Toronto , which showcased the achievements of the Province of Ontario over the past five decades. After a day of rest, they went to Hamilton , where the Queen presented a new regimental flag to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada in the Copps Coliseum in her capacity as Colonel of Honor. Back in Toronto, they attended a 50th anniversary celebration for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . This was followed by a gala concert at Roy Thomson Hall , where Oscar Peterson , the Cirque du Soleil and The Tragically Hip performed , among others . It went on via Fredericton and Sussex to Moncton ; there the queen opened a new terminal at the Greater Moncton International Airport .

From the east coast, the royal couple flew west again to the capital Ottawa . The following day, October 13th, an interfaith thanksgiving ceremony was held on Parliament Hill in front of around 3,500 people; there the queen laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. In the evening there was a state banquet at Canada's National Museum of History and Society in neighboring Gatineau , during which the Queen thanked Canadians for the loyalty and support they have shown over the past 50 years. When the car convoy had previously driven across the Ottawa River to Québec , about a hundred protesters shouted profanity at the Queen in French and they waved Quebec flags. It was the only protest during the anniversary tour of Canada. On the last day, October 15th, she watched a performance by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The last item on the agenda was a banquet in the Rideau Hall .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e 50 facts about The Queen's Golden Jubilee. British Royalty, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  2. a b Queen speaks to Jamaican Parliament. BBC News , February 19, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  3. Picture gallery: Queen in Jamaica. BBC News , February 19, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  4. ^ Gyles Brandreth: Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage . Century, London 2004, ISBN 0-7126-6103-4 , pp. 31 .
  5. Stephen Bates: Republican pledge greets Queen. The Guardian , February 22, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  6. Low turnout to welcome the Queen. Television New Zealand , February 22, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  7. ^ Royal tour draws to a close. Television New Zealand , February 26, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  8. Patrick Barkham: Queen triumphs through scandal and dust. The Guardian , February 28, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  9. Patrick Barkham: Australians shun jubilee celebrations. The Guardian , May 31, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  10. Stephen Bates: Palace plays down fears of jubilee flop. The Guardian , January 24, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  11. ^ John O'Farrell: God save the jubilee. The Guardian , February 2, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  12. Press revels in jubilee spectacle. CNN , June 5, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  13. Queues at Queen Mother vault. CNN , April 10, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  14. Liane Katz: Former PMs gather for jubilee dinner. The Guardian , April 29, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  15. ^ Caroline Davies: Prom at the Palace hits the perfect note. The Daily Telegraph , June 3, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  16. Queen tells of 'gratitude, respect and pride. The Daily Telegraph , June 4, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  17. Jubilee protesters get damages. BBC News , February 4, 2004, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  18. Royals start tour in Iqaluit. (No longer available online.) Northern News Services, October 7, 2002, archived from the original June 3, 2013 ; accessed on September 19, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nnsl.com
  19. Queen faces-off on ice hockey visit. Daily Mail , October 7, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  20. Queen greeted by Thousands of admirers in Winnipeg. CBC News , October 9, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  21. Queen helps CBC TV mark 50th anniversary. CBC News , October 11, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  22. ^ Queen begins visit to New Brunswick. CBC News , October 11, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  23. It means something to be a Canadian. CBC News , October 14, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .
  24. Queen dines with our best. CBC News , October 15, 2002, accessed September 19, 2013 .