behind the scenes of the “Big Jubilee Lunch” in London’s Chelsea district

A few more hours of celebration again across the Channel. After the giant concert – and the surprise video of Elizabeth II drinking tea with Paddington Bear at Buckingham Palace on Saturday – tens of thousands of popular gatherings, including giant picnics are planned for this Sunday across the country .

And for this “Big Jubilee Lunch“Between neighbors at lunchtime, everything has been prepared in advance. Some have thus started to meet on Saturday, in particular in the very chic district of Chelsea, in London.

In the middle of a street, benches and a few tables are decorated with photos of the queen. Everyone brings homemade cakes and petit fours. For Lucy, impossible to succeed in her “street party” without a very specific dish: “Coronation chicken is a recipe developed 70 years ago for the coronation of Elizabeth II. It’s chicken marinated for 24 hours in a wine and curry sauce. We only do this for very special events“, she rejoices.

>> IN PICTURES. Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II: parade, mass, concert… Relive the highlights of the celebrations

The most chic dresses rub shoulders with lion disguises: each honors the queen in its own way. Sophy, the local organizer, hopes to have succeeded: “I adore the queen, but for me the important thing is to see all my neighbors together. I saw a great solidarity to organize that while some didn’t even know each other… So I tried something to get everyone together.

Everyone seems to agree – even the weather should be favorable before the rain expected at the end of the day -, except on one thing: a debate which visibly animates the south of England during this “Big Jubilee Lunch“: Should you put the cream before the jam on the puffs specially prepared for the occasion?


source site-29