MPs To Debate Whether Queen Elizabeth’s Sapphire Jubilee Deserves Public Holiday

Whether or not the Sapphire Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II should be honoured with a bank holiday across Britain will be debated in the Commons later this month after Tory MP Andrew Rosindell brought up the motion on Tuesday.

“Just as previous jubilees have been celebrated far and wide, it must surely be right that the Sapphire Jubilee is too. In fact, I say to this House that Her Majesty’s Sapphire Jubilee should be the greatest jubilee of all, as no other monarch has reached 65 years on the throne,” Mr Rosindell said during the Commons session where he introduced the Bill which would guarantee an extra bank holiday sometime in June.

The Queen has had large-scale celebrations for three of her previous jubilees: the Silver in 1977, the Golden in 2002 and the Diamond in 2012. She also had a large celebration for her 90th birthday last year.

While the idea of such a holiday is a nice gesture to honour the decades-long unwavering service the Queen has given to her country; the practicality of planning such an event in such a short time frame (three months at the most if the Bill is passed sometime in April) brings doubt as to whether Mr Rosindell’s idea is not adequately thought out. Costs and the impact on the economy and national services, particularly NHS staff, would also need to carefully be considered.

Ultimately, if Parliament was to approve the Bill, it would then need to agree on a plan with the Palace, who has not mentioned anything about possibly having a celebration to mark this particular jubilee. It is – in the opinion of several royal watchers – that the Palace instead will celebrate the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s 70th wedding anniversary in November.

Queen Elizabeth during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012

Filed under The United Kingdom
Tagged Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Jubilee, Parliament.

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