Britain plans puddings, parties, military parade for Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on throne
- Next month, the 95-year-old Elizabeth will become the first British monarch to reign for seven decades. Festivities marking the Platinum Jubilee end in June
- As well as parades and neighbourhood parties, a competition will be held to create the ‘perfect Platinum Pudding’ for world’s current longest-reigning monarch
Elizabeth will become on February 6 the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, and festivities marking the anniversary will culminate in a four-day weekend of events June 2-5. It was not immediately clear which events the queen, 95, would take part in after doctors recently advised her to get more rest.
The weekend, which includes an extra public holiday in honour of the queen, will begin on Thursday June 2, with Trooping the Colour – the annual military parade that marks the queen’s official birthday.
That will be followed on June 3 by a service of thanksgiving honouring the queen’s service to the UK, her other realms and the Commonwealth.
In a nod to coronation chicken – the concoction of cold chicken, curry powder, mayonnaise and other ingredients served at garden parties marking the queen’s formal ascent to the throne – the palace will sponsor the a competition to find the ‘perfect Platinum Pudding recipe’ and create a new dessert dedicated to the monarch.
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The competition will be open to UK residents as young as 8 and will be judged by television cooking personalities Mary Berry and Monica Galetti, together with Buckingham Palace head chef Mark Flanagan. The winning recipe will be published ahead of Jubilee weekend so it can be part of the celebrations.
Some 1,400 people have already registered to host Jubilee lunches on June 5, with flagship events set to take place in London and at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The palace expects there will be some 200,000 neighbourhood events across the UK
The weekend will end with a pageant honouring the monarch’s service and looking ahead to the next 70 years. Dancers, musicians, military personnel and key workers will “tell the story of the queen’s reign,’’ while children will create a picture of their hopes and aspirations for the planet, the palace said.
Elizabeth, who is also the world’s current oldest and longest-reigning monarch, became queen on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father George VI.
In September 2015, she overtook the length of time her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria had spent on the throne, remarking that the historical moment was “not one to which I have ever aspired”.
The plans for the queen’s 70th anniversary are similar to those which marked the her 60th in 2012, when Britain held four days of events in her honour – including a huge flotilla on the River Thames and capped off with a star-studded concert at Buckingham Palace.
Additional reporting by Reuters
