Joyful Jubilee parties tinged with sadness
Just how the Sussexes interact with the rest of the royal family and the warmth of their reception this weekend could have a significant impact on their future plans. The early signs aren’t good.
Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, is seen everywhere across the UK this weekend.
She is a full size sponge cake in Birmingham, a fully knitted effigy in Cheshire, beamed onto The Gold State Carriage which heads a special pageant down The Mall, and is at many a neighbourly street luncheon in a special cardboard stand-up appearance. Her familiar comforting face is on flags, bunting, paper plates and crocheted atop red post boxes. Often she is accompanied by a beloved corgi.
Nobody quite does pageantry and pomp like the Brits, yet the Queen is everywhere but only sometimes there. She is noticeably absent from some of the lavish four day holiday celebrations of her record setting 70 years on the throne. It is by happenstance that the longevity of the monarch has coincided with declining health or the “episodic mobility issues” so euphemistically ascribed by Buckingham Palace.
To have survived to this point so that the nation can wildly celebrate an unprecedented platinum jubilee, with church services, complete with four hours of bell ringing, Trooping of the Colour, street parties and neighbourly lunches, a party at the Palace that will be closed by Diana Ross, and then a quirky pageant through the streets of London reflecting the changes she has seen during her reign, is in large part to her own determination, familial genes and medical interventions.
Said the Queen in a narration she made just two weeks ago for a broadcast edited from 400 of her personal films, Unseen Queen: “I don’t know if anyone had invented the term platinum for a 70th anniversary when I was born, we weren’t expected to be around that long, but I have seen one coronation and been the recipient in another, which is remarkable.”
The Queen’s father King George VI, who became King in December 1936, died after 15 years on the throne. “In a way I didn’t have an apprenticeship, my father died much too young, it was a sudden taking on and making the best of what you can,’’ she said.
The Palace courtiers have warned the appearance of the Queen, now 96, is not guaranteed at any of the events and her status will be confirmed each morning. But palace insiders have rejoiced that the Queen has made it to this point to be able to implement the joyous plans. Around Christmas that was not a certainty and her carefully staged moments have been calibrated since with her health front and centre.
On Thursday she looked thin but happy to have her “working” family around her on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, thrilled to see the sea of Union flags and an excited crowd all the way down The Mall and Green Park and chatting to her great-grandson Prince Louis, commending him on his counting ability as the planes formed a number 70 in the sky. She was also eagle-eyed, leaning on a walking cane, to receive the salute from the Royal Household Cavalry when it returned from Trooping the Colour. This was a moment when she may feel that the monarchy in the UK remains as strong as ever, even while the drums are beating for change in Australia and the Caribbean.
The Queen has pulled out of one of her most cherished Platinum Jubilee occasions, Saturday’s Epsom Derby, missing it for only the third time in 70 years (none of her three qualified horses are running) and spent some of the day seeing for the first time her great-granddaughter Lilibet, who turns one. And late on Thursday she withdrew from the service of thanks at St Paul’s Cathedral after Buckingham Palace said she experienced some discomfort from the earlier balcony appearances.
Despite the uncertainty – she missed the State Opening of Parliament last month but then turned up to the Chelsea Flower show in a converted golf buggy dubbed the Maj-mobile – the crowds will turn out in huge numbers to Saturday’s Party at the Palace and Sunday’s quirky pageant. Many a glass will be raised to Her Majesty, just as the winds of monarchal change are scaling the Beaufort measure and just as many conversations are being had about a Charlemagne era as they are about the publicity-seeking Sussexes or the banished son, Prince Andrew.
The toasts are a reflection of her life, a huge thank you for the stability and abundance of common sense she has imparted.
Said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson: “She has led this country through good times and bad, inspiring people to serve others and their communities to create the pride and allegiance that unites us all.”
But what of the rest of her family? Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and their children have flown into London from Montecito, California, but they weren’t on the balcony where traditionally the family have gathered for the jaw dropping 70 plane and Red Arrows fly-past which included a formation in the number 70. Nor was the retired-from-public-duties son Prince Andrew, leaving the focus very much upon the Queen, the heir Prince Charles and No.2 in line to the throne Prince William. The Queen has firmly signed off on plans that the celebration of her reign is to reinforce the sovereign line: of Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, and the three children, Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 4.
Yet in what has been quite a feat, the Queen has gathered all of her family together to try to put the tumultuous past few years behind them.
Courtiers have warned Meghan, who is in tow with her personal make-up artist, and Harry not to overshadow the Queen’s celebrations, dictating that there be “no dramas”. Meghan was near a window for the Trooping of the Colour so that photographers could see her wide brimmed hat and off the shoulder ensemble as she played with Princess Anne’s grandchildren.
Netflix, which has bankrolled the Sussexes with a $US100m ($138m) deal, is unable to gain access inside the platinum celebrations, but some other royals are cautiously preparing to avoid them lest they are fitted up with microphones or they embark on some off-piste moments.
Meghan, with photographers, turned up “unexpectedly” early this week to pay respects at the memorial to schoolchildren shot in Uvalde, Texas. All the while critics pointed out that her estranged father Thomas, had suffered a stroke and is unable to talk. He had been intending to visit Windsor and perhaps even meet with Prince Charles, whom he had joked was the other “ghosted” father. Markle has never met Harry, or his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, after Meghan blacklisted him for organising some favourable photos of himself preparing for their royal wedding.
But Charles and William haven’t been able to forgive Harry and Meghan either for their strident criticism of the royal family to talk show host Oprah Winfrey, with their claims some members of the family were racist, uncaring about Meghan’s mental health and their erroneous assertion Archie wasn’t given a princely title because he was of mixed heritage.
Of those bitterly divisive claims the Queen insisted she took them very seriously “but recollections may vary”.
William has been furious too that Meghan continues to insist that his wife Kate made Meghan cry over the fitting of bridesmaid dresses before those 2018 nuptials.
Just how the Sussexes will interact with the rest of the family, the warmth or otherwise of the public reception, could have significant impact as to their future plans. Surveys this week show the British public is firmly on the side of the royal family and in one conducted by JL Partners, descriptions of Harry were “idiot”, “stupid” and “spoilt” while those attributed to Meghan were “manipulative”, “American” and “actress”.
Only 62-year-old Andrew, a friend of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and who paid $20m in a deal with Australian woman Virginia Giuffre who accused him of sexual abuse when she was a teenager, is regarded even lower in the public’s estimation. Andrew’s settlement of the case, and his legal obstructions beforehand irked the nation and this week Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby copped a backlash after remarking to ITV: “I think for all of us, one of the ways that we celebrate when we come together is in learning to be a more open and forgiving society. Now with Prince Andrew, I think we all have to step back a bit. He’s seeking to make amends and I think that’s a very good thing.”
Andrew was unexpectedly prominent at the recent memorial service for his father Prince Philip, as he guided the Queen to her seat, which was not planned and grated with royal insiders. Before contracting Covid-19 on Thursday, he was to have only been behind the scenes at private family events.
Much of that has to do with Charles, who has formed a strong bond with William, consulting him regularly as the Queen continues to shift more and more of her responsibilities. The father and son have made major joint decisions of late, including about the streamlining of royals on the public purse and advising the Queen about the stripping of titles from Andrew.
Not surprisingly the low key involvement of Meghan and Harry, and the absence of Andrew has been well received by royal fans who just want to concentrate on giving Her Majesty a raucous thank you.
Yet underwriting the intensity of the festivities is a strand of melancholy: an acute understanding the odds are declining that the Queen will make it to a 75th jubilee or a 100th birthday.
There is enormous goodwill for this Elizabethan age, but not necessarily the monarchy. Not many want to think about the future upheaval of having a new King and his consort Queen or that the Queen is ailing.
The Queen said many happy memories were being created at the festive occasions where communities, families, neighbours and friends have marked her platinum jubilee across the Commonwealth.
As a new portrait was released, she noted: “I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.”
The finale of the jubilee extravaganza is a farewell by the star Ed Sheeran at the pageant. The song? His hit Perfect, followed by God Save the Queen. Just how can Charles compete when it is his turn on the throne?
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