Queen Elizabeth II marks diamond jubilee - The Washington Post
The Washington Post, 29 May 2012
With royals riding high, Queen Elizabeth marks her marvelous year
Stung by royal breakups, relentless sniping over her tax-free status and a fire at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II famously dubbed 1992 her
annus horribilis, or horrible year. Two decades later, the world’s highest-profile monarch finds herself basking in the glow of something wholly different: an
annus mirabilis.
One. Marvelous. Year.
Yet the queen is observing more than a milestone that puts her just three years shy of becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. She is also symbolically marking the revival of a British royal house that has defied the odds by bringing a nation — and the world — back under its spell.
For a family once described as Britain’s most dysfunctional, and in a country where whispers of republicanism seemed to swirl with every new tabloid headline, the rising fortunes of the British royals amount to what observers call a public relations coup. Although support for the monarchy has always been strong, a new opinion poll by Ipsos Mori shows that eight out of every 10 Britons want to keep the monarchy — the highest level of support since the surveys began in the 1980s.
Many credit the supernova wedding that produced the global stars now known simply as “Will and Kate” with providing the House of Windsor its undeniable boost. But in the year since the bunting came down from Westminster Abbey, the royals appear to have solidified those gains, with even the gangling Prince Charles and his second wife, Camilla, scoring fresh points with the public. Most important, the younger generation of Windsors — including those now associated by marriage, such as Pippa Middleton, the sister of Catherine — have emerged as de facto pop culture icons rivaling the likes of Lady Gaga and Rihanna. Their fame, royal watchers say, has given the British monarchy’s international image a lift not seen since the early years of another royal couple — Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Yet as Britain prepares for the queen’s diamond jubilee, the monarchy more than ever is all about Her. “At 86, the queen is having her star turn,” said Dickie Arbiter, her former spokesman.
British newspapers on both the political right and left are running gushing tributes. Cities great and small are being festooned with Union Jacks for more than 10,000 street parties (about double the number held for last year’s royal wedding). Merchandisers are minting everything from diamond jubilee retro lingerie to vintage champagne. Andrew Lloyd Webber has penned a song. Two national holidays have been declared.
...through it all, and with her husband and consort, Prince Philip, by her side, she would stand as a regal symbol of state from the first icicles of the Cold War to the first moon landing, from the birth of the Beatles to the death of singer Amy Winehouse, from the once-constant threat of Irish republican terrorism to the 2005 bombing of London subway trains by homegrown Islamist extremists.
"...there’s a lot to be said for a constitutional monarchy,” royal biographer Robert Lacey said. “We are recognizing the queen more and more as the independent national figure that unites all of us and the one constant in our lives for the past 60 years.”
To herald the diamond jubilee, Buckingham Palace has launched a charm offensive, with the queen’s national tour over the past several months drawing crowds that would be the envy of any aging rock star. But royal watchers also say that the palace has clearly been using this year to begin the process of passing the royal torch, with the queen dispatching younger royals on a blitz of domestic and international tours that has raised the family’s profile and spread the gospel of the House of Windsor near and far.
A poll released this week shows that about 40 percent of Britons are eager to see the popular William leapfrog his father to the throne, compared with roughly 46 percent who felt that way about one year ago. Still, almost no one believes that Charles will step aside, and few predict a succession crisis. Observers chalk that up largely to a queen who after six stalwart decades has somehow managed to endear the archaic notion of inherited monarchy to an otherwise progressive nation.
.
