The Associated Press reports the British monarch will be spending her Sapphire Jubilee 110 miles (175 kilometers) to the north at her Sandringham House estate in Norfolk, where her father, George VI died of lung cancer at the age of 56 on February 6, 1952, after a reign of 15 years.
There are official commemorations planned in her honor, including ceremonial cannon fusillades at a central London park and at the riverside Tower of London. A ceremonial procession of military horses pulling World War I era artillery pieces is also planned.
All-in-all, it is sure to be a most glorious celebration for the British monarch, Elizabeth II, who has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for 65 years. But perhaps, just as important, the British monarch is not only loved and respected by her own countrymen but by countless people in other countries around the world.
This writer had just turned the ripe young age of seven and while visiting her favorite aunt’s house, she got to watch the June 2, 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II on a tiny black-and-white television screen. I look back on that occasion with nostalgia because I remember my aunt telling me that what I was watching was not a fairytale and yes, there really were real queens and kings in some countries.
The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that while there was a weekend of celebrations with a party on the mall for the queen’s official birthday in June, the really big celebrations will be in 2022 when the monarch will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, although the events will take into consideration that the queen will be turning 96 that year.
