After 70 years, The Queen's reign has been received with warmth

Chris Hallam (Image: Chris Hallam)

This weekend will see an extended Bank Holiday in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. No other monarch in British history has sat on the throne for as long as Elizabeth II has. She has reigned for seventy years, succeeding her father in February 1952.

The Queen is now 96 and it realistically it is quite possible this will be the last major Royal celebration of her reign. On the other hand, she may yet live to see her 100th birthday in 2026.

The year 2027 would also mark the 75th anniversary of her becoming Queen while were she to live to 106, she would be able to celebrate her Oak Jubilee in 2032.

The first Grand National Jubilee’ was celebrated in 1810 to honour George III’s 50th year on the throne. He was not the first monarch to reach this milestone ((Henry III, Edward III and James VI of Scotland had all reached this landmark before him) but his was the first to be properly celebrated.

Sadly, such was the King’s mental instability by that point, that he was largely unable to take part himself.

In 1887, it was Queen Victoria’s turn. “Fifty years today since I came to the throne,” Victoria wrote in her diary. “God has mercifully sustained me through many great trials and sorrows.”

The Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury begged her to put on her ceremonial robes and crown for the occasion. She refused and wore black and a bonnet as usual.

Later, amongst other things she rode in an open landau escorted by Colonial Indian Calvary to Westminster Abbey and was cheered by crowds along the way.

Ten years later in 1897, the increasingly frail Queen celebrated sixty years on the throne with her Diamond Jubilee.

A special two-day Festival of the British Empire was held at the suggestion of politician, Joseph Chamberlain.

The Empire was then close to its peak, ruling over 450 million people. The Queen, who would die in 1901, aged 81, was genuinely touched by the warmth of the crowds: “No-one ever,

I believe, has met with such an ovation as was given to me, passing through those six miles of streets,” she wrote. “The crowds were quite indescribable and their enthusiasm truly marvellous and deeply touching. The cheering was quite deafening and every face seemed to be filled with joy.”

In 1935, Victoria’s grandson, George V celebrated his Silver Jubilee. Although rather a stiff, dry character, the elderly king was very popular and there was widespread celebration despite the widespread privations of the Great Depression.

At one point, he rode in a carriage with his two young granddaughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

The celebrations turned out to serve as an extended goodbye to the old King. He died the following January, aged seventy.

It had been the first ever Silver Jubilee celebration held for a British monarch. It would not be the last. Initially, there had been fears that the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 might prove to be something of a damp squib.

News stories about Princess Margaret’s unhappy marriage to Lord Snowdon coming to an end, didn’t help. However, in the end, the celebrations proved a triumphant success. Prime Minister James Callaghan proved to be a keen supporter of the monarchy.

Vast crowds gathered in London to see the Queen and other Royals such as Lord Mountbatten wave to them from the Royal balcony, while across the nation, celebratory street parties were held. The Queen’s popularity continues to this day. Like

Queen Victoria before her, Elizabeth II found herself both surprised and touched the amount of warmth with which she was received by the British public.