April 22, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her golden jubilee
By Elisabeth Ribbans

LONDON, April 22, Graphic News:  ÒLong to reign over us,Ó runs a line from the British national anthem. But it is one sung more in hope than expectation. For Queen Elizabeth IIÕs golden jubilee is, in fact, a rare event in the countryÕs history. The last monarch to celebrate five decades of rule was Queen Victoria -- ElizabethÕs great-great-grandmother -- in 1887.

ÒEarly English monarchs had few opportunities to celebrate jubilees,Ó writes royal historian Hugo Vickers. ÒLife was so hard and their profession so precarious that few of them attained the age of 50, still less reigned for 50 years.Ó Before Queen Victoria, only Henry III in 1265, Edward III in 1377, and George III in 1809 were spared to mark their golden jubilees.

Queen Elizabeth has had an unhappy start to her anniversary year -- the death of her younger sister, Princess Margaret, in February, followed by that of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at Easter. But the losses look set only to increase affection for the queen as the public reflects on her half century of rule.

When Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in April 1926, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, the nation toasted the arrival of George VÕs royal grand-daughter -- but not, it imagined, its future queen. It was only the abdication a decade later of ElizabethÕs uncle, Edward VIII, leading to the accession of her father as George VI, that put young ÒLilibetÓ directly in the line of succession. Upon the KingÕs early death in 1952, Elizabeth became queen, bringing with her to Buckingham Palace her young husband Prince Philip, only son of Prince Andrew of Greece, and their two children Prince Charles, born in 1948, and Princess Anne, aged just 18 months. (Prince Andrew, the first child delivered to a reigning monarch for more than a century, was born in 1960, and Prince Edward in 1964). The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey in 1953 -- many Britons buying their first television sets for the occasion, sharing in a national event as never before.

The publicÕs sense of deference and awe toward the monarchy has diminished significantly in the 50 years since then. But few subjects have ever questioned Queen ElizabethÕs accomplished commitment to duty. A recent opinion poll for the left-leaning Observer newspaper found that while more than a quarter of respondents thought the queen should resign in her jubilee year, more than 80 percent regarded her as a good ambassador for Britain and seven out of 10 deemed her Òhard-workingÓ.

Introduced to royal duties from the age of 14, Princess Elizabeth -- schooled at home in constitutional history, law and languages, as well as her favourite subjects of art, music and horse-riding -- was already carrying out a considerable schedule before she came to the throne.

Shortly after her 18th birthday she began to perform, in the kingÕs absence, some of the duties of head of state. Her 21st birthday was spent in South Africa, where, on her first official overseas visit, she made a broadcast address dedicating herself to the service of the Commonwealth.

The 76-year-old Queen maintains a full calendar -- undertaking between around 530 engagements a year in the UK and overseas. Every year, she will entertain some 48,000 people from all sections of the community at garden parties and other royal occasions, and is patron or president of more than 700 organisations. As head of state, she also holds a weekly audience with the prime minister, and sees all cabinet papers, important foreign office telegrams and a daily summary of events in parliament. Her many military responsibilities include those as head of BritainÕs Navy, Army and Air Force.

Her rather serious demeanour in public is, say close acquaintances, in contrast to her wit, good-humour and unfussy air in private. One of her keenest passions is horses -- the Derby and Ascot are also fixtures in her diary -- an interest to be highlighted with an equestrian extravaganza at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May. ÒAll the QueenÕs HorsesÓ, will employ 1,000 horses and 200 actors to trace Elizabeth IIÕs reign through her love of horses, including a recreation of the 1953 Coronation procession.

The wider theme for her anniversary celebrations will be community and thanksgiving. According to royal officials, the Queen wants to make a contrast with the Silver Jubilee of 1977 -- when the nation gave thanks for the monarch -- by giving back recognition to all those who contribute to community service. The programme suggests the British monarchy has taken onboard the criticism that it has become irrelevant to modern life, too out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. The most shocking example of this was deemed to be the monarchÕs failure to anticipate the widespread grief following Princess DianaÕs death in 1997.

The 1990s was not a good decade for the royal family. The divorce of Princess Anne, the breakdown of the marriage of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the fire at Windsor Castle and the separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, all in 1992, caused the queen to refer to that year as her Òannus horribilisÓ. The WalesÕs bitter, protracted divorce in 1996 and DianaÕs tragic death a year later marked further low points.

But as the century has turned, and the Queen urges the country to use her jubilee as an occasion Òfor looking forward as well as backÓ, there is a sense that the monarchy has turned a corner, too. Long reigns run the risk of unpopular spells -- as Queen Victoria, now regarded as among the greatest of monarchs, knew -- but Queen Elizabeth, like her great-great-grandmother, seems to be finding that longevity also offers the chance for lost esteem to be restored.
/ENDS