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Queen has Britain buzzing
01/06/2002 13:41 - (SA)
Jonathan Kent
London - Royal fever gripped Britain on Saturday, the first of four days of parties, concerts and fireworks celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the throne.
After days of bad weather, most of Britain was bathed in golden sunshine, creating the perfect mood for a classical concert at Buckingham Palace in the evening and a feast of World Cup football.
"Send him victorious", read a Daily Express back page headline beneath a picture of England football captain David Beckham. "Long to reign over us", read its front page, dominated by a photograph of the queen.
Lord Stirling, chairperson of the Golden Jubilee Weekend Trust which organised the royal celebrations, said he couldn't predict how many would turn out but he was expecting huge crowds.
"I think the spirit out there to celebrate this great lady's fifty years is absolutely marvellous," he said.
"It's very difficult to say (how many will turn out) but there are hundreds of thousands of people already in London. We've got to be prepared for very large numbers indeed," he said. Huge crowds are expected to gather in central London parks to watch the Buckingham Palace concert, featuring performances by New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa and Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, relayed on giant screens.
That concert, and a star-studded pop concert at the palace on Monday, will be attended by the royal family and 12 000 members of the public who won a ballot for tickets.
For many there will be only a brief respite between Saturday night's royal celebrations and Sunday morning's kickoff as England's football team take on Sweden in Japan.
"Hopefully England will win, in which case there'll be a zip, and even if they don't win they're not out - so the excitement is still there and everybody will be wrapping themselves I'd imagine in the Union Jack," said Lord Stirling.
Most tabloid newspapers put Beckham rather than the queen on their front pages, and while the red white and blue of the Union Flag was widely displayed for the silver jubilee in 1977, this year it is the red on white of England's Cross of St George.
If the weekend sees an outpouring of affection for the monarch who has reigned over Britain for 50 years, the sentiment aroused by the man dubbed "Goldenballs" by his pop star wife Victoria is closer to fervour.
The combination of the two is expected to result in celebrations on a scale not seen in Britain for decades.
Street parties will be held across the nation on Sunday and Monday, and more than 1 000 beacons will be lit the length and breadth of the country.
On the last day of celebrations on Tuesday, Britons will get a chance to indulge their passion for pomp and ceremony.
The queen will attend a thanksgiving service at London's St Paul's Cathedral, after which a parade of 20 000 people led by a Hell's Angels motorbike rider and including a 5 000-strong gospel choir will process through the heart of the city.
About 10 000 police officers will be on duty in the capital.
"There is no specific threat to this event but, especially since September 11, we have to take certain precautions," said Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter.
- Reuters
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