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ON SUNDAY, THE UK’s Queen Elizabeth II will become the first British monarch to reign for 70 years, and will mark the start of her Platinum Jubilee year, despite a recent move away from public view.
The date is likely to receive little fanfare, with the 95-year-old monarch likely to spend the anniversary of the death of her father in private.
The Queen’s record-breaking reign as the UK’s head of state began when she was aged 25 and watching wildlife in a remote part of Kenya with her husband, Prince Philip.
She has since become the one constant in an era of rapid social and political change, a figurehead of modern Britain and a living link to its post-war and imperial past.
The Queen — who regularly tops surveys as the most popular royal — on 23 January flew by helicopter to her Sandringham estate in eastern England.
She had been due to stay at Sandringham House with close family over Christmas and the New Year but the visit was postponed because of surging cases of Omicron.
No public engagements are expected on Sunday, in keeping with previous years.
But four days of festivities are planned for early June, including a military parade and a music concert, street parties, a mass attendance picnic and a “Platinum Pudding Competition”.
Commemorative coins have been minted to mark the unprecedented milestone.
Retreat
At Sandringham, the queen is staying at Wood Farm, a five-bedroom cottage that was favoured by her late husband after he retired from public life in 2017.
The queen travelled to Sandringham by helicopter and was photographed in the back of a Range Rover, wearing a silk headscarf printed with birds.
The 20,000-acre (8,100-hectare) estate, near the north Norfolk coast, is dear to her heart.
Not only was it a retreat for Philip until he joined her in Covid isolation at Windsor Castle in 2020, but also for her father, George VI, who died there of lung cancer, aged 56.
It was also a favoured residence for her grandfather, King George V, who also died there, and her great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra.
After Philip’s death in April last year, the queen returned to public and official engagements, including hosting world leaders at the G7 summit in Cornwall, southwest England.
But she has been forced to slow down on advice from doctors, after an overnight hospital stay in October sparked public concern.
Since then she has largely stayed at Windsor and made few public appearances.
The last dates back more than a month to her annual Christmas message, where she paid a rare personal tribute to her husband of 73 years.
Respite
Only three monarchs in global history have reigned for more than 70 years.
France’s Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, 110 days from 1643 to 1715. Thailand’s king Bhumibol Adulyadej was on the throne for 70 years and 126 days from 1946 to 2016.
Johann II, prince of Liechtenstein, ruled for 70 years, 91 days from 1858 to 1929.
Sandringham could give Elizabeth some respite from a scandal involving her second and reportedly favourite son Prince Andrew that has cast a shadow over her jubilee year.
In mid-January, she stripped him of his honorary military titles and charitable positions as he battles a US civil case for sexual assault.
The move effectively removes him from public life, and is designed to insulate the royal family from any damaging revelations and repercussions.
Andrew, 61, vehemently denies the accusation but he has been tainted by his associations with the convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
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There’s no traffic jams or pay parking online petrol tank still full and more time with children and walking the dog.
@Gerard Heery: Less stress, more money and no rip offs.
They want poeple out of their cars they won but at a price!
That’s a bit of a no-brainier. People have set budgets and if they send their money on-line then of course shop sales will drop. I do a lot of window-shopping and see items I want to buy and then go home and order them on-line at a cheaper price..
The high street is dead when it comes to shopping. It’ll only get worse.
There’s room for both high street shops and online retail.
Most people will want to try on a suit before buying it. It’s just most people don’t want to get completely gouged just because it’s being sold on Grafton St.
Got cashback over £70 sterling from flubit for all presents bought online last month. It’s a no brainer when you have the likes of Debenhams selling drones for €110 instore when you can buy them online in the UK for £25. People aren’t stupid.
Puma Kings €55 online. Enough said.
Nike air max 2017 €113 online , €175-€190 in the shops. Joke !
Reduce vat before , all is lost ….
Lets be real, even without the sterling collapse it’s better value to buy online from the UK than Irish stores. Irish business need to shape up, they’re part of a global marketplace now where people will gravitate towards the best offer.
Welcome to the new normal.
Well in all fairness shops have been robbing us for years. So if you can find what you want on the web then good luck to you. After all the amount you can save means more money in your pocket. There’s a massive gap in shop prices and web prices for the same product so why would you pay more.
Isn’t this what capitalism is supposed to be all about – market choices ?
The cost the the world of the climate change scam is equal to all internet sales worldwide annually.
have your say