It was, said Prince Philip, "a good excuse for a party."
And what a party it was. In a spontaneous outburst of powerful feelings, millions of Britons last week celebrated the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, who for the past 25 years has been "by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." Despite cool weather and gray, overcast skies that occasionally exploded in rainstorms, it was a week of exuberant festivity, offering the kind of stately pageantry that no other nation in the world can equal. Silver trumpets blared fanfares, batteries of cannon fired multigun salutes, Union Jacks bedecked homes and shops throughout Britain.
Hilltop Fires. Cynics dismissed the Jubilee as an exercise in irrelevance at best and a needless extravagance at worst. A fairer view was that Britons—in a mood for a holiday from such irksome problems as inflation, unemployment, trade-union troubles and political woes—genuinely wanted to pay affectionate tribute to a gracious lady who has been a symbol of stability, humane decency and traditional values during one of her nation's most difficult quarter-centuries.
The week of festivities* began at Windsor Castle. As a crowd of more than 200,000 looked on, Elizabeth ignited a 35-ft.-high bonfire atop a hill near the ancient castle. Within minutes, 101 more hilltop fires were flaring from one end of the British Isles to the other. It was a reminder of a difficult moment in the reign of her namesake and ancestor, Elizabeth I; similar fires had been set in 1588 to warn the country of the approaching Spanish Armada.
The day after the bonfire, there was a regal procession from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral for a solemn thanksgiving service, followed by a lavish banquet at nearby Guildhall. By midmorning, men, women and children were standing 20 deep along the tree-lined mall that links the palace with Admiralty Arch. At 10:25 a.m., a carriage procession of members of the royal family clattered through the King's Door in the Royal Quadrangle, accompanied by a mounted escort of the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment. Princess Anne (expecting her first child in November) and her husband Captain Mark Phillips led the procession, followed by Princess Margaret and her two children* and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, 75, Elizabeth's aunt. Then came the other royals: the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael of Kent, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother accompanied by her daughter's younger sons, Prince Andrew, 17, and Prince Edward, 13.