Mum would have loved the Platinum Jubilee weekend, mainly because she loved anything to do with the Royal Family.
She’d have had this weekend marked off on her Royal Family calendar for 2022 (probably bought from the Daily Mail) and would be drooling over the photos of baby Lilibet.
Back in 1977 we all got commemorative mugs for the Silver Jubilee, which my mother dutifully cherished at the back of a cupboard for the next 41 years until they were unceremoniously boxed up and given to a charity shop (if I boxed them. If my sister did it they’ll be landfill somewhere).
Fun though it has been for many – at least we had a bit of Paddington – it might be the last one for a while.
What’s next?
One thing to consider is that HM is showing no signs of really slowing down. Sure, she’s less mobile than she used to be, but her mother reached the age of 101 without much problem. HM is 96, so we could yet have a 75th Jubilee.
What’s a 75th anniversary called? I have no idea. Neither does Wikipedia, which suggests diamond or gold (except we had those for 60 and 50). We didn’t really celebrate the Ruby (40) or Sapphire (55) Jubilees, but you can’t have them either.
Consider instead that she pops her clogs sometime before reaching 100.
Charles is currently aged 73, so is unlikely to reach a Silver Jubilee.
Let’s say he decides not to bother, and hands the role over to Number One Son William.
William is currently aged 39, 14 years older than his grandmother when she became Queen.
If he became King tomorrow he might make it to a Golden Jubilee, but we won’t be celebrating a Silver Jubilee until 2047 at the absolute earliest. I’ll be 80, if I’m lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things work out).
In fact, if Charles does decide to be King and does, say, 20 years then the next Jubilee won’t be until 2067. And that’s assuming HM dies tomorrow – we could easily add another five onto that.
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
(Incidentally: this is the 400th post on this site, which seems appropriate.)