Without the weary queen, but with Harry and Meghan: the British royal family gathered on Friday for a religious service celebrating 70 years of the historic reign of Elizabeth II, on the second day of her platinum jubilee.
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Buckingham Palace had announced Thursday evening the absence “reluctantly” of the 96-year-old monarch, yet head of the Church and very religious, due to a certain “discomfort”. As more and more often, the queen, who has difficulty walking, is represented by her heir Charles.
AFP
She had appeared twice Thursday on the balcony of the palace, and had participated in the evening at Windsor Castle in a brief ceremony to light the illuminations.
The religious ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London marks the first royal appearance in the UK for Prince Harry and Meghan since leaving for California two years ago.
AFP
The Duke of Sussex, military medals hanging from his jacket, and the Duchess, in an off-white dress, arrived shortly after 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) to applause – and a few boos – on the steps of the cathedral.
Before them had arrived Prime Minister Boris Johnson, booed by the crowd, holding the hand of his wife Carrie, and his predecessors Tony Blair and David Cameron.
AFP
A heavy ceremonial surrounds this religious ceremony, with guards in traditional uniforms in rows on the forecourt and on the steps, and bells ringing continuously. The event, attended by some 2,000 people, is one of the highlights of the four days of festivities marking the record longevity of the very popular Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne at the age of 25 on February 6, 1952.
“It’s a very moving moment,” admits Karen Fletcher, 55, who came in the early morning in front of Saint-Paul. “We will never see anything like this again”, she adds, saying to herself “sad” that the queen does not come, while understanding that “she must take care of herself”.
“It’s historic,” adds Roger Nagy, 51, who came especially from the United States. He finds the monarchy ‘great’, and as for Harry and Meghan, ‘they should stay back, they can do what they want with their lives, but shouldn’t say anything, this is all for the Queen, not them”.
AFP
The return of the “Sussex”, who came from the United States with their two young children for the celebrations, has caused a lot of hostile ink to flow, a reflection of great unpopularity in the United Kingdom since their departure and their sensational confessions on television American.
After the family tensions of the past two years, all gestures and looks before, during and after the service will be examined with a magnifying glass. For two years, relations between Harry, 37, and William, 39, second in line to the throne, have been almost non-existent. They are hardly better with her father Prince Charles, heir to the crown.
AFP
According to the couple’s biographer, Omid Scobie, they had lunch with family members in Windsor on Thursday, giving the Queen the opportunity to meet their daughter Lilibet for the first time, who is celebrating her first birthday on Saturday.
The queen’s second son, Andrew, 62, was absent on Friday after suffering from COVID-19, according to Buckingham Palace. He no longer has any official role, since charges of sexual assault in connection with the Epstein case in the United States, which he ended by paying several million dollars.
Neither he nor Harry and Meghan had been invited to the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday, from where the Queen was cheered on by tens of thousands of Londoners. Meghan and Harry were spotted from afar watching the Salute to the Colors military parade from another building.
The celebrations will continue on Saturday with a big evening concert in front of Buckingham Palace, before thousands of lunches and popular parties between neighbors on Sunday, and a huge parade through the streets of London in the evening, with nearly 10,000 participants.
Taking advantage of this patriotic atmosphere, and unlike a 96-year-old monarch who is preparing for the future, the Conservative government launched a consultation on Friday to restore, in the wake of Brexit, the use of the imperial measurement system, with the return of pounds instead of kilos in shops, and allow the size of pints to be certified with a logo representing a crown instead of the European CE.