Flags everywhere. Unusual amounts of barricades and police officers. Insane crowds. Hold up, is that Alicia Keys singing in the park? Are we missing something here?
With no idea this was going on when we had planned this trip, we realized we had coincidentally landed in London the same weekend a once in a lifetime event was going on… Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
The recent passing of Queen Elizabeth left many with a heavy heart. She was a real national treasure and symbol of pride to Britain. Therefore let this post serve as a reminder of how much she was loved by her people.
All over Britain celebrations were being held to celebrate Elizabeth II’s 70 year reign as Queen. Festivities ranged everywhere from neighborhood block parties in small villages to parades and special celebrity appearances in the bigger cities. London was the heart of it all. The first weekend in June was full of nothing but pride for the UK in honoring the longest reigning monarch the country has seen. And we quite literally walked right into the madness without even really knowing what was going on.
On Saturday the 4th, we walked through St. James Park and right down The Mall (the main street ending leading to Buckingham Palace) as far as we could until a barricade blocked us from going any further. Unlike any regular time, you were not allowed to walk around the Victoria Memorial and get the iconic view of Buckingham Palace you normally see. The Mall was lined with huge beautiful flags and many people were already claiming their spot to watch the concert later that night which would take place in front of the palace. It was only noon at this time, and the concert did not start until 8pm, so these folks had a long day of waiting in front of them! If we didn’t already have plans for that night we would have ended up joining the crowd to watch the concert! Elton John, Queen + Adam Lambert, Andrea Bocelli and more were all in the lineup!
The following day was Sunday the 5th, and we decided to take the entire day to experience the Jubilee Pageant. The pageant was a 2 hour long parade which we decided to go down and watch in person. We stood right on the side of the Mall witnessing everything that was being broadcasted around the world right in front of our eyes. It was a fantastic parade, and we had very good viewing spots considering we had only been waiting two and a half hours to save a spot before it started (compared to some who were there since 8am.)
The pageant ended with a live performance of the national anthem and special song sung by Ed Sheeran in front of the palace. Let’s see if I can recount exactly what happened and how we managed to get a perfect view of this grand finale…
After the parade had completely finished, the guards began removing the temporary barricades that kept people on either side of The Mall so that people could go out into the street. When this happened everyone immediately bolted for the palace. And I mean bolted. Think of a giant wave of people spilling into The Mall from the sides and into the middle where everyone was making a run for it straight to Buckingham Palace. What we all wanted was to get as close as we possibly could to the palace so we could have a good view of the final performance. And lucky for us we were able to get an incredible view right in the middle of all the action super close to the Victoria Memorial.
Multiple songs were performed by another musical group before Ed Sheeran performed Perfect, and let’s just say, it was perfect. Here we were in the heart of England with tens of thousands of other proud Brits waving their flags and celebrating their queen. Not to mention the fact that millions around the world were watching this celebration on tv as well! It was a surreal moment and one that I will always cherish.