Prince Charles paid a moving personal tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth on Saturday during celebrations to mark her Platinum Jubilee, praising the monarch for uniting the nation and continuing to make history during her 70-year reign.
Charles spoke at a pop concert that began with a comic sketch of the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear and playing the tune of the rock anthem. we will Rock You of the band Queen, who opened the show.
The heir to the throne appeared towards the end of the concert outside Buckingham Palace. As images from Elizabeth’s reign were displayed on the walls, Charles, 73, said the Jubilee had given the country a chance to say thank you.
“You promised to serve your whole life, you continue to deliver. That’s why we’re here,” he said in a message to the Queen, who was at her Windsor Castle residence outside London.
“You have met us and spoken with us. You laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us for these 70 years,” she added, referring to the Queen as “mommy”.
Saturday’s festivities were among a series of Jubilee events the Queen has missed due to “episodic mobility issues” that have led her to cancel several engagements recently.
The opening video featuring the fictional character Paddington had echoes of 2012 when the Queen appeared with Britain’s most famous fictional spy, James Bond, in a video for the London Olympics opening ceremony.
In the clip from Saturday, he told Paddington that he always kept the bear’s favorite, a jam sandwich, in his ever-present bag.
of the Queen we will Rock You then opened the show, before the cast of hamiltonAndrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys and Diana Ross performed in front of tens of thousands of people gathered around the palace, on the mall’s Grand Boulevard and in a nearby park.
- A documentary by Adrienne Arsenault of CBC, The Queen and Canada, airing now on CBC Gem. It also airs Saturday at 20:00 ET on the CBC News Network and Sunday at 9 pm on CBC-TV.
Charles and his wife Camilla, along with their son William, his wife Kate and their two eldest children, sang along with the crowd before a drone aerial light show projected images into the sky, including the monarch on a seal and the outline of their dogs.
A wink to Felipe too
The four days of celebrations to mark the monarch’s seven decades as Queen began with a military parade and Royal Air Force flight, and a National Service of Thanksgiving on Friday.
At the concert, Prince William spoke about his family’s history with the environment, while Charles also acknowledged his father, Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99.
“My dad would have enjoyed the show and wholeheartedly joined us in celebrating all that you continue to do for your country and your people,” he said.
“You keep making history.”
Elizabeth ascended the throne at the age of 25 after the death of her father, George VI, in 1952, inheriting dominion over a Great Britain still emerging from the ravages of World War II and with Winston Churchill as prime minister.
In all, there have been 14 US prime ministers and 14 presidents during his reign; the Berlin Wall rose and fell; Great Britain joined and left the European Union; and his nation’s once-mighty empire disintegrated, replaced by a 54-nation Commonwealth. Elizabeth was instrumental in creating the latter and many consider her success as her greatest achievement.
Polls suggest a comfortable majority believe the monarchy should remain. A recent Ipsos poll put support for the Queen at nine out of 10 respondents. But Charles is less popular and support among young people is declining.
Supporters see the Queen as a source of soft power in the world and a stabilizing factor: a bridge between the nation’s past and present.
As Charles delivered his tribute, projections of the Queen, which he had selected, were beamed onto the palace walls.
These included a carriage ride with former South African President Nelson Mandela during his 1996 state visit and his famous 2012 handshake with former IRA guerrilla commander Martin McGuinness, who later became Northern Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister.
Sunday will mark the final day of the celebrations, when singer Ed Sheeran will join some 10,000 entertainers and the armed forces for a parade that will trace a route similar to the one taken by the Queen at her coronation.
Reference-www.cbc.ca