French President Emmanuel Macron has offered his congratulations to Queen Elizabeth II on her platinum jubilee, calling her "the golden thread" that binds France and Britain together.
The 96-year-old monarch has a busy few days ahead as she prepares to attend a number of events to mark 70 years on the throne, a milestone in British royal history.
Speaking in a video message earlier this Thursday, Macron said in English "Over the past 70 years, the French president has relied on very few constants ... your devotion to our alliance and to our friendship has remained."
He recalled "the dark days when your family welcomed General de Gaulle in your home" during World War II, when the leader of the Free French and later founding president of France's Fifth Republic took refuge in London from the Nazi German occupation.
Switching to French – in which the Queen is fluent – the recently re-elected leader told the monarch that "celebrating you today is celebrating the sincere and deep friendship which unites our two countries".
Madame,
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 2, 2022
Your Majesty, pic.twitter.com/NIKB7wNTBy
Lavish celebrations
The British government has invested 28 million pounds (€33 million) to mark the occasion and announced a four-day bank holiday from Thursday 2 June so Britons can join in the festivities.
Although Elizabeth II became Queen on 6 February 1952, her coronation wasn’t until 2 June 1953. Celebrations are held each year in June to coincide with clement spring weather.
This Thursday, 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians gathered in central London for the traditional “Trooping the Colour” military parade.
The cortege started at Buckingham Palace and ended up at the Horse Guards Parade on the other side of The Mall, where members of the royal family joined in on horseback and by carriage.
For the first time in 70 years, the Queen did not attend the royal salute and the review of the troops in person.
At 96, the Queen has only just begun showing signs of slowing down. Earlier this year, she contracted Covid, and has spent the occasional night in hospital for checkups.
She missed the opening of parliament at the beginning of May, and Buckingham Palace has released statements referring to the Queen's "mobility issues."
International media broadcast Thursday's festivities, while several channels in France organised live shows, special programming and documentaries.
France pulls out the stops
France 2 is running commentary with royal history expert and host Stéphane Bern, who also commented on the diamond jubilee in 2012 and even had an audience with the Queen.
Only 18 members of the royal family who have been closely associated with public engagements were in attendance. The Queen’s eldest son Charles and his wife Camilla, his son Prince William, his wife Kate and their three children are among them.
Prince Harry, his wife Megan and their two children, were not at Buckingham Palace for the ceremony, having separated from the royal family in February 2021.
They will however present their daughter Lilibet Diana, born 4 June 2021 to the Queen separately.
The Queen’s son Andrew, facing accusations of sexually abusing a minor in connection with the Epstein affair, was also not invited having retired from public life in 2020.
Gossip and scandal
The Queen has certainly had her fair share of family scandal and gossip throughout her time on the throne, but interestingly, she has always remained at a safe distance from the melee. Public opinion tends to be harsh towards her family and politicians, but not her personally.
This is probably because she is obliged by law to remain neutral, leaving political wrangling up to her Prime Minister and her parliament. Most people – even those close to the royal family – admit they do not know exactly what she thinks of any given topic.
She suffered a significant dip in her popularity after the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997, when her delay in making a public announcement was interpreted as cold-hearted.
But come 2020, the Queen found her place again as grandmother to the masses, notably delivering a comforting speech to the nation during the height of the Covid pandemic.
In February, she extended an olive branch to Charles’ wife Camilla, by offering her a formal title of queen consort when Charles will become King, in recognition of services rendered to the throne.
The Crown
Perhaps some of the recent fervour around the royal family can be attributed to the award-winning Netflix series “The Crown” inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne and the inner workings of her personal life.
The series got tongues wagging thanks to the “imagined” conversations between the Queen and her prime ministers (she has had 15 during her reign). Creator Peter Morgan has had to publicly remind people however that his dialogues are “inspired” by real life and not verbatim.
Throughout the series, the public get an insight into the Queen’s schedule, her love of dogs and horses, her time at Balmoral in Scotland, and notably her visits to far-flung corners of the Commonwealth.
There are 54 countries among the Commonwealth of Nations, 52 of which were former colonies.
The Queen reigns as direct monarch in 15 member states known as Commonwealth realms. These include Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The others are independent sovereign states, or monarchies. Nineteen member countries can be found in Africa.
As part of the celebrations beginning on 2 June the "Platinum Jubilee Beacons" – reserved for special royal occasions and anniversaries – were switched on in 1,500 locations around the empire, from the Isle of Man to the Caribbean.
At Buckingham Palace, the beacon set in a 21-metre “tree of trees” will be lit at 9pm.
After the traditional church service at Saint Paul’s on Friday, the rest of the Jubilee is dedicated to leisure and fun, with the horse races at Epsom Downs, the Platinum Party with celebrity artists and a concert on Saturday.
On Sunday, it’s the big jubilee lunch and the colourful pageant recounting the highlights of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
