Queen Elizabeth II, the most famous monarch on the planet, passes the historic milestone of 70 years of reign on Sunday, while her appearances have become rare since health concerns in October.
No living monarch has reigned this long.
Traditionally, February 6 is for her a bittersweet day of private contemplation at the royal estate of Sandringham. Because it is both the date of her accession to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25, but also that of the death of her father King George VI from lung cancer at the age of 56, to which she was very attached.
Nothing suggests that it will be otherwise this year. No public events have been announced.
The 95-year-old Queen, still hugely popular after a life entirely devoted to the Crown, quietly joined Sandringham, 3 hours north of London, on January 23. She usually spends two months there around the holidays, but this year had postponed her departure due to the Omicron variant of the very virulent Covid in London in December. She should stay there for several weeks.
Four days of festivities, happily awaited by the British, were announced across the country in early June to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee.
Trooping the Colour, the parade which officially celebrates its anniversary each year, will open this long holiday weekend with 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians on June 2. A major concert is scheduled for Buckingham Palace on June 4, and 200,000 Jubilee lunches with neighbors and friends are announced for June 5. One of these lunches, in Windsor, hopes to break the world record for the largest picnic, with some 1,600 participants.
A cake competition has also been launched, and a historical re-enactment of the 70-year reign of a queen who crossed eras and crises imperturbable, will combine British tradition, history and street artists on June 5.
Sandringham, special place
In Sandrigham, Elizabeth II moved to Wood Farm, rather than the grand mansion on the estate, according to the British press. It was in this relatively modest and isolated five-bedroom house, from which you can see the North Sea, that her husband Prince Philip, who died last April, retired in 2017, before the pandemic. of Covid does require him to return to Windsor Castle. He liked to spend his days there reading, painting and walking. She also enjoyed there, when she could, a life relieved of the usual royal pomp.
During the Queen’s trip to Sandringham, a photo showed her sitting in the back of a Range Rover, wearing a silk scarf with a bird print on her head.
Sandringham has always been a special place for her: Philip’s retirement place, it is there that his father died, but also his grandfather George V and George V’s mother, Queen Alexandra.
Since her unexplained health problems in October, when her doctors asked her to reduce her activities, the public appearances of Queen Elizabeth II can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The latest dates back to her recorded Christmas message, largely devoted to her “beloved Philip”. She had confided how much she missed her “mischievous” look and her laughter. They had been married for 73 years.
Before Elizabeth II, only two monarchs in history have reached the milestone of 70 years of reign: Louis XIV, King of France who reigned 72 years and 110 days from 1643 to 1715, and King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej (70 years and 126 days from 1946 to 2016).
The past few weeks have not been easy for her. In mid-January, she stripped her son Andrew, often described as her favourite, of his military titles and patronage and closed the door to any return to public life, because of the civil lawsuit that threatens him in New York. The prince is accused of sexually assaulting a minor 20 years ago, allegedly procured for him by the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
A heavy shadow over the Jubilee celebrations, which the 95-year-old queen would have done well.
The main dates of Elizabeth II, queen for 70 years
Here are the main dates of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other kingdoms of the Commonwealth, who reaches 70 years of reign this Sunday.
- April 21, 1926: born in London.
- December 12, 1936: heiress to the British Crown after her father George VI’s unexpected accession to the throne.
- November 20, 1947: married Philip Mountbatten, a distant cousin.
- November 14, 1948: Birth of Charles. The couple will have three more children: Anne, Andrew and Edward.
- February 6, 1952: acceded to the throne at the age of 25, on the death of his father from lung cancer at age 56. His coronation at Westminster Abbey took place on June 2, 1953.
- 1992: evokes an “annus horribilis”. Three of his children separated from their spouses and Windsor Castle was hit by a devastating fire.
- August 31, 1997: criticized for the timidity of its reaction, out of step with popular emotion, to the death of Princess Diana.
- September 9, 2015: breaks the record for longevity on the British throne.
- April 9, 2021: death of her husband Prince Philip, at the age of 99.
- February 6, 2022: reaches the milestone of 70 years of reign, a platinum jubilee that will lead to four days of celebrations in June.