Despite a fire at Buckingham Palace on Sunday evening, the celebrations for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee got off to a raucous start this weekend capturing the imagination of Brits keen to celebrate their monarch’s 50 years on the throne.
On Saturday evening, the festivities started with a lavish classical concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The gates opened early to the 12,000 lucky ticket holders to allow them to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the glorious sunshine before the concert, and a further 40,000 revellers crammed the Mall to watch the proceedings on giant screens.
Eighteen members of the Royal Family were among the audience, including the Queen, Prince Charles and – for the first time in public with the monarch – the Prince of Wales' long-term companion Camilla Parker Bowles.
First to take to the stage was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who performed excerpts from Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro and Gershwin’s Summertime. The husband-and-wife opera team of Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna gave solo performances first before teaming up to perform Brindisi from La Traviata.
Bringing the concert to a spectacular conclusion, a spectacular firework display accompanied the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines' rendition of Handel’s Overture. This was followed with a stirring rendition of Land Of Hope And Glory, which the crowd joined in with great gusto and flag-waving before launching into the national anthem.
On Sunday, members of the Royal Family attended church services in what was to be a day of reflection, focusing on Jubilee church services and bell-ringing across the UK and Commonwealth, where the Queen is head of state in 15 countries.
The monarch attended a thanksgiving service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where her sister, Princess Margaret, and mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, were laid to rest earlier this year. The Dean of Windsor, the Right Reverend David Connor, recalled the Queen’s promise of a lifetime’s service at her coronation 49 years ago to the day.
“That unqualified promise has been given with continuous commitment, dedication, total loyalty, and unstinting service to the Church, the nation and the Commonwealth,” Dr Connor said in his sermon while the Queen, dressed in a shimmering grey two-piece outfit, listened intently. The congregation – and the crowds listening on loudspeakers outside – also heard prayers from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey and the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor.
Meanwhile, duty came before football for Princes William and Harry who attended a service at St Mary’s Church in Swansea, to celebrate their grandmother’s 50 years on the throne, rather than stay at home to watch England’s opening game in the World Cup against Sweden. Accompanied by their father, Prince Charles, the soccer-mad teenagers smiled broadly as they entered the church. A spokesman for the Prince of Wales said: “They did want to watch the game but they also wanted to celebrate the Golden Jubilee. They weren’t forced to come to church.”
Later in the day, Buckingham Palace had to be evacuated after a fire broke out in a storeroom on the fourth floor only 24 hours before the second Jubilee concert was due to take place. Smoke billowed from the roof, but fire services rapidly brought the blaze under control. No members of the Royal Family were in the palace when the alarm was raised at 6.42pm. An inquiry has been launched into the cause of the fire, but the palace has said that the concert will go ahead as planned.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
