GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS
It is interesting to remember
in this Golden Jubilee year that three of the longest reigning monarchs of
England were women.
Elizabeth l was five years
short of her Golden Jubilee when she
died in 1603.
Queen Victoria celebrated her
Golden Jubilee in 1887 and her Diamond Jubilee (60 years) in 1897. She died in 1901 aged 82 years. She was the longest reigning English
monarch.
Queen Elizabeth ll has reigned
since 1952 and celebrates her Golden Jubilee this year.
In “Queen Victoria and her
people” by C S Dawe there are details of the events which marked the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee. These show that not
much in the way of Royal celebrations has changed since then. They are listed as Thanksgiving Services,
feasts for the poor, treats for the young, illuminations and bonfires
throughout the length and breadth of the country”. There was also a series of exhibitions, concerts, foundation
stones laid and buildings opened by the Queen and a Grand Procession from the
Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.
Dawe writes that “Next to the Queen herself, the greatest attraction was
her body-guard of seventeen princes in military uniform, superbly mounted and
wearing their jewels and orders. They
rode three abreast, the Queen’s three sons coming last.”
The Oliver Collection also
contains a poster (too large to exhibit) of events in Englefield Green to
celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in June 1887. On Jubilee Day the Church Lads’ Brigade Band led a procession to
the Green where a bonfire was lit to the singing of the National Anthem. On 24th June there was a “Dinner for the
aged poor” in a tent on the Green, where everyone attending was presented with
a Jubilee Medal, also a tea for the
children. During the afternoon there
were “sports and pastimes” with several bands playing.
On display:
HENTZNER, Paul. “Travels in
England during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth”. 1797.
TASKER, Sohrabji Kuvarji.
“Jubilee Persian Poem to Mother Victoria”. 1887.
HOLMES, Richard R. Queen
Victoria. 1897.
DAWE, C S. Queen Victoria and
her people. c.1898.
LIDDELL, H G. The Queen’s
Jubilee: a sermon. 1887.
Joan Wintour
March 2012