Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is the forthcoming international celebration in 2012 marking the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries, upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. Queen Victoria in 1897 (Elizabeth's great-great grandmother) is thus far the only other monarch in the histories of Britain,[1] Canada,[2][3][4] and a few other Commonwealth realms to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee.

Following the tradition of jubilees past, a Diamond Jubilee medal is to be issued in various countries;[1] Canada's was revealed just prior to Accession Day, 2011.[5] A holiday to mark the event is planned in the United Kingdom. Further plans were discussed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011.

Contents

Australia

Quentin Bryce, the Governor-General of Australia, announced that the Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated "with a host of national and community events throughout the Commonwealth."[6] In that vein, it was said in late 2011 that the government of Queensland was planning to declare a holiday in June 2012 to mark the jubilee and that Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, would tour the country.[7][8]

The Royal Australian Mint announced in August 2011 that it will be releasing a silver proof 50 cent coin to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.[9]

Canada

In Canada, the Secretary to the Queen, Kevin S. MacLeod, has been charged by the Governor General-in-Council to head the Diamond Jubilee Committee, which is overseeing the organisation of that country's fêtes for the Queen.[10] As with other royal events, the Department of Canadian Heritage will play a large role in organisation and planning. $7.5 million has been allocated for federal jubilee celebrations, education and awareness and distribution to community groups. A Diamond Jubilee Week will begin on Accession Day 2012 and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are to tour the country,[11] including stops in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.[12]

Forethought about the anniversary began as early as five years before the event: in April 2007, then-Secretary of State for Canadian Heritage Jason Kenney requested that the various lieutenant governors begin preparations for the jubilee.[13] Three years later, the question of a national holiday to mark the jubilee was raised in the media and a series of official announcements were made and markers unveiled: it was in June announced by the Minister of Canadian Heritage,[14] James Moore, that a new painted portrait of the Queen, the first since 1976, would be completed by an Ontario artist by 2012;[2] a commemorative stained glass window, showing Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria with their respective royal cyphers and renditions of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament during the reign of each monarch, was on 30 June unveiled by the Queen at Rideau Hall (to be later installed in the Senate chamber);[15][16] in the newly dedicated Queen Elizabeth II Gardens outside the monarch's official residence in Manitoba, the Queen planted on 3 July an Amber Jubilee Ninebark shrub, the species having been created specifically for the Diamond Jubilee;[17] and a corbel within the Sovereigns' Arches of the parliament's Senate foyer was also sculpted into a rendition of the Queen and unveiled on 9 December by the country's governor general, David Johnston;[18]

On 3 February 2011, the Governor General announced that the Queen had approved the creation of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Johnston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled the medal, along with the official emblem of Canada's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, at Rideau Hall;[5] the first medal was struck by the Governor General on 8 December of the same year.[11] The Royal Canadian Mint will issue an "extensive set" of coins to mark the anniversary.[19]

Caribbean realms

The Queen's realms throughout the Caribbean are planning a number of Diamond Jubilee events. Prince Harry will tour Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, will visit other Caribbean countries.[8][20]

New Zealand

Sir Jerry Mateparae, the Governor-General of New Zealand, unveiled the Diamond Jubilee emblem for New Zealand and announced a full program would be announced in due course.[21] Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall will tour New Zealand on behalf of the Queen.[8]

Oceanic realms

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will visit the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.[8]

Other Commonwealth countries

Visits are planned by Princess Anne to Zambia and Mozambique, while the Duke of Gloucester will make official visits to Uganda and Malta. In Asia, Prince Andrew, Duke of York will visit India, while Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will make visits to Malaysia and Singapore. [22]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, national and regional events to mark the Diamond Jubilee are being co-ordinated by the Queen-in-Council and her Royal Household at Buckingham Palace.[23] As for the Golden Jubilee in 2002, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for co-ordinating the Cabinet-led aspects of the celebrations.[24]

On 5 January 2010, the Lord President of the Council and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced that an extra bank holiday would take place on Tuesday, 5 June 2012.[23][1][25] By moving the Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May) to 4 June, this will result in a four-day holiday in honour of the Diamond Jubilee, coinciding with the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom, also on 4 June.[1][26] As national holidays are a devolved matter, Scotland's first minister confirmed separately that the bank holiday would be held on 5 June in that country as well.[27] A large event will be staged in London on that weekend,[26] which is to include a diamond jubilee concert,[28] reportedly to be produced by singer-songwriter Gary Barlow,[29] and a maritime parade of boats and events along the River Thames on 3 June, in which 1,000 boats are expected to take part (the largest flotilla to be seen on the river in 350 years) and some one million people are expected to watch from the banks.[30][31][32] The Queen and other members of the Royal family will be carried down the Thames on a special Royal barge.[33] Street parties can be permitted to take place across the country.[34] Special community lottery grants, called The Jubilee People's Millions, are being offered by the Big Lottery Fund and ITV.[35] There was a contest held by the BBC children's programme Blue Peter to design the official emblem for the Diamond Jubilee; the winning design, announced in February 2011, was created by ten-year-old Katherine Dewar.[36]

To mark the jubilee, the Queen will bestow Royal Borough status on Greenwich, in south-east London.[1][37] In addition, a competition will grant in 2012 city status to one town and either a lord mayoralty or lord provostship to one city.[n 1][39] The Olympic park in East London, created for the 2012 London Olympics, will be named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park following the Olympics.[40]

In March 2011, the Royal Commonwealth Society launched the Jubilee Time Capsule to mark the jubilee.[41] In the United Kingdom, 60 Jubilee woodlands are planned to be established by the Woodland Trust in 2011-12, one of which is to be 500 acres and the remainder 60 acres each.[42]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The towns bidding for city status are:[38] Bolton, Bournemouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Dumfries, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Perth, Reading, Southend, St Asaph, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets, and Wrexham. The cities bidding for a Lord Mayoralty or Lord Provostship are:[38] Armagh, Cambridge, Derby, Gloucester, Lancaster, Newport, Peterborough, Salford, Southampton, St Albans, Sunderland, and Wakefield.

References

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  2. ^ a b Department of Canadian Heritage (22 June 2010). "Government of Canada Commissions New Canadian Portrait of Her Majesty The Queen". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/infoCntr/cdm-mc/index-eng.cfm?action=doc&DocIDCd=CJM100694. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
  3. ^ Office of the Prime Minister of Canada (9 February 2011). "PM unveils Diamond Jubilee Medal design to honour Canadian contributions". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=3927. Retrieved 20 October 2011. 
  4. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage. "Topics > Monarchy in Canada > Queen's Diamond Jubilee". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1296669421850/1296669769856. Retrieved 20 October 2011. 
  5. ^ a b Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.gg.ca/pdf/DiamondJubilee_eng.pdf. Retrieved 3 February 2011. 
  6. ^ Office of the Governor General of Australia. "Queen's Birthday Message". Australian Government Publishing Service. http://www.gg.gov.au/content.php/category/id/1/title/role. http://www.gg.gov.au/announcement.php/view/id/50/title/queens-birthday-message. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
  7. ^ Viellaris, Renee (6 November 2011), "Bligh shakes up public holidays, gifts Queenslanders another day off", The Courier-Mail, http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/bligh-shakes-up-public-holidays/story-e6freoof-1226186716689, retrieved 6 November 2011 
  8. ^ a b c d Royal Family plans for Queen's Diamond Jubilee unveiled, BBC, 14 December 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16174233, retrieved 14 December 2011 
  9. ^ Royal Australian Mint. "2012 Product Launch for the Royal Australian Mint". Royal Australian Mint. http://www.ramint.gov.au/media/noticeboard/2011/downloads/20110907a_checklist.pdf. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
  10. ^ "PM announces the appointment of Kevin MacLeod as Canadian Secretary to the Queen" (Press release). Office of the Prime Minister. 1 April 2009. http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2501. Retrieved 29 November 2009. 
  11. ^ a b Government of Canada Unveils Plans for Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Canada Newswire, 6 December 2011, http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/890901/government-of-canada-unveils-plans-for-her-majesty-s-diamond-jubilee-celebrations, retrieved 8 December 2011 
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  13. ^ Kenney, Jason (23 April 2007), "Lieutenant Governors Meeting", written at Regina, in Department of Canadian Heritage, Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney, Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm, retrieved 29 November 2009 
  14. ^ "Diamond Jubilee: should we get a national holiday?". CBC. 6 January 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/01/diamond-jubilee-should-we-get-a-national-holiday.html. Retrieved 4 June 2010. 
  15. ^ Foot, Richard (29 June 2010). "Queen Elizabeth in Halifax". Global News. http://news.globaltv.com/canada/Queen+Elizabeth+tour+Canada/3208763/story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+canwest%2FF8163+(Global+News++-+Canada). Retrieved 1 July 2010. 
  16. ^ Foot, Richard (27 June 2010), "Queen Elizabeth to skip Quebec on Canadian tour", Montreal Gazette, http://www.montrealgazette.com/Queen+skip+Quebec+Canadian+tour/3208778/story.html, retrieved 1 July 2010 
  17. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage. "2010 Royal Tour > Itinerary for 2010 Royal Tour of Canada". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.royaltour.gc.ca/itiner/itiner-eng.cfm. Retrieved 9 August 2010. 
  18. ^ Office of the Governor General of Canada (7 December 2010). "Governor General to Unveil the Corbel of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13980&lan=eng. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
  19. ^ Canadian Press (2 March 2011), "Canadian mint marking royal wedding with collector coins", Toronto Star, http://www.thestar.com/news/world/royalfamily/royalwedding/article/947234--canadian-mint-marking-royal-wedding-with-collector-coins, retrieved 8 March 2011 
  20. ^ Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis (7 Dec 2011), Display during visit of cruise ship Queen Elizabeth to mark Diamond Jubilee, The Office of the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, http://www.cuopm.com/newsitem_new.asp?articlenumber=2583&post200803=true, retrieved 8 December 2011 
  21. ^ Governor-General of New Zealand. "Queen's Diamond Jubilee Emblem of New Zealand". Governor-General of New Zealand. http://gg.govt.nz/content/queens-diamond-jubilee-emblem. Retrieved 29 November 2011. 
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  23. ^ a b "The Queen: Don't link my Jubilee celebration to 'flashy' Olympics". Daily Mail. 27 June 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1195973/The-Queen-Dont-link-Jubilee-celebration-flashy-Olympics.html. Retrieved 31 October 2010. 
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  28. ^ "Queen to get party of century, by Richard Brooks, Arts Editor". The Times. 12 April 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6078532.ece. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
  29. ^ "That'll relight one’s fire". The Sun. 20 July 2010. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/3060799/Take-That-to-play-concert-for-the-Queen.html. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
  30. ^ "Welcome". Diamond Jubilee. http://thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org/. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  31. ^ "London river extravaganza planned for Queen's jubilee". France 24. 6 April 2011. http://www.france24.com/en/20110406-london-river-extravaganza-planned-queens-jubilee. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  32. ^ Bates, Stephen (5 April 2011), "Thames flotilla to mark Queen's diamond jubilee", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/05/thames-flotilla-queen-diamond-jubilee, retrieved 7 April 2011 
  33. ^ Queen's Diamond Jubilee royal barge design unveiled, BBC News, 11 December 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16124689, retrieved 11 December 2011 
  34. ^ Department for Communities and Local Government. "The new, simple, easy-to-use form to organise street parties has arrived!". Queen's Printer. http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsstories/newsroom/1700319. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
  35. ^ "Lottery Millions to Help Communities Bloom for Diamond Jubilee". The National Lottery. http://www.peoplesmillions.org.uk/faqs. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
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  38. ^ a b "More than 25 towns bid for Diamond Jubilee city status". BBC. 16 June 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13796689. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
  39. ^ "Diamond Jubilee to be marked by creation of new UK city". BBC. 1 December 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11887723. Retrieved 1 December 2010. 
  40. ^ "Games site renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park". BBC. 7 October 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11492273. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  41. ^ "Jubilee Time Capsule". Royal Commonwealth Society. http://www.jubileetimecapsule.org. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
  42. ^ "Woodland Trust searching for jubilee wood site". BBC. 30 July 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14327232. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 

External links

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