I risk becoming something of a social commentator if I keep on going like this. Not that this would such a bad thing because, after all, it might be that I better myself in such a role. My posts over the last 6 months have wavered between inane teenage angst and stiff social/political comment - I feel like the latter might be of more interest to the masses. Anyway, and speaking of masses, today saw the end of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and left me with a lot of think and write about. This might just be the start of something new for me as I look to find a quasi-genre for a blog that is otherwise lacking in such. This evening I feel more like a Brit than I have done in my 10 or so years of social consciousness and it feels nice. At the start of the weekend the sight of the Union Jack would make me slightly queasy but now it invokes in me a feeling of, dare I say, pride.
You only have to have watched a few minutes of the proceedings over the last 4 days to have realised the impact that these celebrations have had on a nation. The sense of pride and adulation has been palpable and that's coming from someone who has watched the whole thing unfold on TV, many miles away from the centre of the action in London. Granted, the feeling up in Scotland was much more muted than it was south of the border - that age old argument that the Monarchy is more of an Anglican institution often bites at these times. Even Alex Salmond couldn't help himself in his congratulatory message to the Queen, citing her as Elizabeth, Queen of the Scots rather than Elizabeth II as she if formally known. Those of you that have read the slightest amount of public law will know the background to this - a wry smile stretch across my face when Salmond, almost jocularly, utter those words.
I wrote on Sunday morning before the pageant on the Thames had started about how much I was looking forward to that very event and what it stood for. It turned out that it was actually a bit dull - sadly. The reality of Sunday afternoon was that we all sat in our warm front rooms and watched an elderly husband and wife stand for 4 hours in the cold and rain - even the younger member of the Royal family looked chilled to the bone. So I was a bit down-hearted after that because the splendor that the Queen carries around on her shoulder was replaced by a scarf that was described by the BBC presenters as a 'concession' to the weather rather than an necessity - she's not super-woman I should point out.
The news that Prince Phillip had taken ill and therefore wouldn't take any further part in the Jubilee celebrations was almost predictable but nevertheless a sad moment. As many 'experts' have said during the coverage, the most solemn moments of the weekend were the images of the Queen sitting alone, kept company by her son rather than her doting and seemingly ever youthful husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. However, she battled on through and, despite the fact that I thought she wasn't going to show for the concert on Monday, she made her entrance and the event was lifted from a pop concert to a fully-loaded Royal celebration. I enjoyed last night thoroughly I should add. Some of the performances were dull, some were out of touch and some were just awful but it was star-studded line-up and the crowds that made the statement last night for me.
It seemed like today had almost been forgotten after all of the fun of the night before. However the Queen and her family were up bright and early and attended St Paul's Cathedral along with many other for a service that appeared to move and touch people. I got the messages that were being sent out but the religious words that they were wrapped remain but a mystery to me. Today was more about the pomp and pageantry that we have come to associate with Royal occasions and what a fitting end it was to the weekend. Those pictures of the soaring crowds coming down Pall Mall eventually coming to rest beneath the grandeur of Buckingham Palace are etched into my memory and the memories of millions of people around the world - never have I seen crowds quite like it. The 10 minutes that the Queen and her closest family spent on the balcony affirmed for me, as it should for a lot of people, that this country needs a Monarchy - nothing more needs to be added to that statement.
Today also did something else; I'm not sure if anyone will have really thought about it though. I think that the sea of Union Jacks mixed in with the odd Saltire placed a firm nail into the coffin of Scottish independence. A sweeping statement possibly but one to think about and one that I will discuss further in another post.
Today was all about the Queen but there is so much more to be said about the subtleties of the whole weekend that I'm sure there will be whole books written about it. I am going to leave this post here but this topic will not go away from the forefront of my mind and so I would expect more Royal-related posts in the coming weeks if I were you.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this weekend - even if it was only because you got a day off work!
Martin
