hours of this morning Friday, June 1, 2012 at the Palace of
Westminster, London during the Queens Diamond Jubilee Procession
rehearsal. (AP)
Mugs celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
on sale in Trafalgar Squareon June 1, 2012 in London,England. (AP)
Britain on Saturday kicks off four days of celebrations to mark Queen
Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee, includinga 1,000-boat river pageantand
a star-studded concert.
The queen starts the festivities by indulging in her love of horse
racing at the Epsom Derby on Saturday before riding in aceremonial
barge on the Thames at the centre of the giant flotilla on Sunday.
One million people are expected to line the river to see the
extravaganza ofsteam boats and tugs, speed boats and historic vessels.
A concert in the shadow ofBuckingham Palace featuring Paul McCartney
and other top names is the highlight on Monday before the four-day
extravaganza culminates in the pomp and splendour of a ceremonial
parade on Tuesday.
Aside from the setpiece events in London, millions of people up and
down the country are commemorating the jubilee by throwing a party at
home.
"It looks like the entirety of Britain is going to turn out," said
historian Kate Williams, the author of"Young Elizabeth: The Making of
our Queen".
They will be making the most of the two-day public holiday granted for
an historic occasion -- the queen is only the second British monarch
to celebrate a diamond jubilee, after queen Victoria, in 1897.
Union Jacks are fluttering in streets and shop windows and retailers
report that red, white and blue bunting and even jubilee garden gnomes
areselling fast.
The celebrations take place as the royal family enjoys its highest
support for decades, with a recent poll showing that 80 percent of
Britons want the country to remain a monarchy.
Those levels of support are comparable to 1953, the year of the
queen's coronation.
Coming hot on the heels of Prince William's wedding to the then Kate
Middleton last year, the jubilee is likely to further boost the
royals' popularity.
Amid the acclaim for the queen it is easy to forget that just a decade
ago, thepicture was very different.
Following the death of Diana, princess of Wales, ina Paris car crash
in 1997, the monarch was widely criticised for failing to join in the
public outpouring ofgrief.
She did eventually bow toDiana's coffin as it passed, a moment that
Williams says was a turning point.
Now there is a "massive surge" of affection for the queen both in
Britain and across the Commonwealth, said Williams.
"At the moment the queen's popularity is as high as it's ever been
sinceher coronation," she told AFP.
"This is really quite incredible when you think about how
extraordinarilyunpopular she was after the death of Diana."
At the centre of the celebrations is an 86-year-old great-grandmother,
who was visiting Kenya in February 1952 when she was told that her
father, king George VI, had died atthe age of 56, thrusting her into
the role of queen.
When she ascended to thethrone in 1952 aged just 25, Winston Churchill
was prime minister of Britain, Jawaharlal Nehru led the
newly-independent India and swathes of Africa and Asia were still
governed by Britain.
She has visited 116 countries over the past six decades, but in a nod
to her age she and her husband Prince Philip have given their children
the task of visiting the countries of the Commonwealth in the jubilee
year.
Philip has recovered from emergency heart surgery in December and is
expected to play a full partin the jubilee celebrations, just a week
before his 91stbirthday.
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