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The British monarch will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in June as a nonagenarian who is gradually moving away from the official agenda. This is a tour of his 70 years in front of the House of Windsor
The world changes, Elizabeth II remains. This Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of his arrival on the throne. The reign of unprecedented duration, marked by the Platinum Jubilee to be held in June with several days of national festivities. Seven decades separate the novice with little experience from the 95-year-old great-grandmother who gradually leaves official activity. The British respect the figure of who has been a constant in their lives.
The young and inexperienced queen of the 50s
Princess Elizabeth of York became Elizabeth II at the age of 25. She had been married for five years to the handsome Felipe Mountbatten and their first two children, Carlos and Ana, had been born. A young and inexperienced woman came to the throne. “She’s just a girl” the prime minister of the time would say skeptically, Winston Churchill, who would eventually become one of his great admirers. Churchill was the first of the 14 British heads of government he has met throughout his reign. Who knows if one more will not be added to the list soon.
The long-haired 60s and ‘swinging’ London
The young took over the world. The miniskirt, Mary Quant, ‘swinging London’, pirate radios, the Beatles. “Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl. But she doesn’t have a lot to say” (“Your Majesty, a pretty girl, but you don’t have much to say”, sang Paul McCartney on the album “Abbey Road”. Everything was new and modern. The Kennedys were an unbeatable chic couple. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Elizabeth II kept her style unchanged. Tiaras, gathers, ermines. The monarchy was beginning to smell of mothballs.
The harsh 70’s of scarcity and blood
The queen was already a grandmother. His first grandson, Peter Phillips, was born in 1977, the year of the Silver Jubilee. The Sex Pistols they celebrated with ‘God Save the Queen’. “She is not a human being and there is no future. England is dreaming”, read the lyrics of the scandal. They were turbulent times. Inflation, strikes, power cuts, shortages, unemployment. The IRA bloodied the country with bombs. In 1979 he arrived at Downing Street Margaret Thatcher, with whom Elizabeth II would have a rather strained relationship.
The princely weddings of the 80s
The decade of the Falklands War, gay liberation and MTV was also the decade of lavish royal weddings that would end like the rosary at dawn. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Prince Andrew and Sara Ferguson. The sovereign invited to ride a horse in Windsor Castle to Ronald Reagan, one of 13 US presidents he has frequented. Head of the Anglican Church was the first British monarch in history to travel to the Vatican, where she officiated Juan Pablo II
The “horribilis” 90
The queen’s nerves of steel were tested during the years when the monarchy hit rock bottom. Widnsor’s castle went up in flames. He had to agree to pay taxes for the first time. Three of his four children ended up divorcing between sex scandals, infidelities and conspiracies. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, exploded in his hands. The sovereign momentarily lost popular favor. In England they triumphed Spice Girls y Tony Blair received the cream of “Cool Britania” at the official residence.
Camila’s reinvention in the 2000s and international terrorism
Millions of Britons celebrated in 2002 the golden jubilee. Ten years later, Diamante’s would arrive. The queen’s longevity has beaten all odds. In 2005 the unthinkable happened: the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles got married. The monarchy turned the page. Times marked by terror with the attack of September 11 in the United States, the attacks in Madrid and London and the United Kingdom present in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A share that “exasperated and frustrated” to Elizabeth II as published by The Daily Telegraph.
In the 2010s, weddings, baptisms and the new ‘Bond Girl’
Serious, impassive, Elizabeth II has rarely shown a sense of humor in public. Hence the surprise when at the opening of the London Olympics he ‘debuted’ alongside 007, Daniel Craig, in a parody of James Bond. The royal wedding chapter was monopolized by the grandchildren. Prince William and Kate Middleton, in 2011. Two years later he would be born Jorge, the future heir. Dynastic continuity was assured. In 2018 it was the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. A time bomb.
The last two years have been traumatic. The Dukes of Sussex they escaped to California and accused the royal family of being racist. The rupture between Guillermo and Enrique is irreparable. The Duke of York has been removed from the acts of the Crown accused in the United States of having maintained sexual intercourse with a minor old. The matter is pending trial. In the midst of a pandemic, the queen lost her husband, Prince Felipe, almost a centenarian last April. The sovereign, of whose health there is no information, lives semi-retired in Windsor.
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