The British royal family will be celebrating next spring! Elizabeth II will celebrate her platinum jubilee, or her 70 years on the throne. Already, the United Kingdom and the member countries of the Commonwealth are preparing for the festivities spread over several days in early June. Recall that the sovereign was crowned on June 2, 1953 in Westminster, 16 months after the sudden death of her father King George VI. Except that this event coincides with another anniversary: the 1 year of little Lilibet Diana, the daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, born on June 4, 2021 in California!
Already a few months ago, Buckingham Palace announced that the celebrations will take place between Thursday June 2 and Sunday June 5, 2022, with an exceptional day off granted to British citizens. Saturday, June 4, the day of the first anniversary of Lili (as her famous parents call her), Elizabeth II plans to attend the Epsom Downs Derby (a famous horse race), before the big BBC concert planned in Buckingham and broadcast on television, in which artists will take part international. Also expected is the traditional Trooping The Color parade, which celebrates the sovereign’s birthday each year, as well as a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral. Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take advantage of this historic jubilee to finally return to the UK? Will Lilibet blow out her first candle with her paternal family? Nothing is less sure…
It has now been two years since the Sussexes distanced themselves from the monarchy to start a new life across the Atlantic. If Elizabeth II was able to take advantage of the first months of Archie, the first child of Meghan and Harry born in the spring of 2019, difficult to say the same for Lilibet, whom she has never met before. A source from the magazine People nevertheless claimed that the Sussexes had introduced their daughter to her illustrious great-grandmother (aged 95) for a video call… If Prince Harry has already returned to England twice, the last year, for Prince Philip’s funeral in April and for the unveiling of the statue honoring his mother in Kensington in July, we now know why his family has always remained in California.
In mid-January, it was revealed that Prince Harry had taken legal steps to restore his police protection when he returns to the UK with his wife and children. This protection has indeed been withdrawn from them following the change of their royal status… Will the situation be resolved before the festivities next spring? Will Archie and Lilibet finally be able to see the royal family? That’s all we can wish for the queen, to see her family reunited and peaceful, after a particularly difficult year 2021.