Highlights From the Platinum Jubilee
Beverley Martins
Her Majesty The Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service, this year.
The four-day celebration included public events and community activities, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service. Even citizens who were not celebrating still had the luxury of a long weekend.
The long weekend kicked off, with a short film starring The Queen, in which she sat across a table from Paddington Bear, followed by a performer by the British rock group Queen, performed with Adam Lambert, their long-time stand-in for their late frontman, Freddie Mercury.
Enjoyed the most by the sweet Prince George, Rod Stewart took to the stage to perform a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”. We saw on camera the young Prince singing along with such joy. Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Cats and Evita creator took to the stage in a purple velvet suit to introduce a medley of his greatest hits, noting that the Queen’s “reign has outrun any West End show in history”.
We saw a host of runway models in designs from an eclectic mix of British designers, while the word “fashion” and silhouettes of mannequins were alternately projected onto the facade of Buckingham Palace.
The climate crisis was introduced by the 96-year-old nature documentarian David Attenborough, who delivered a heartfelt speech urging viewers to take this moment to reflect on one of the biggest challenges our world is currently facing.
Following Attenborough’s powerful words, Prince William took to a podium to announce that it would serve as a key facet of the royal family’s work moving forward. “As I watch those extraordinary images, it does make me think of all the monumental and pioneering work of so many visionary environmentalists that have gone before,” he said. “I’m in awe of people like the great Sir David Attenborough who look at the beauty and power of our Earth and then work to celebrate and preserve it.”
To end the celebrations, we were graced with performances from the “royal favourites” Elton John and Dianna Ross.