Bengal Lancers parading through London and knees-ups in New Zealand: As our Queen marks her Diamond Jubilee, how Victoria's global subjects celebrated hers One of the abiding memories of my Great-Aunt Cissy was sitting on her father's shoulders with a tiny Union Jack clasped in her hand and watching Queen Victoria ride in her carriage on her way to St Paul's Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving.
For 60 years, God had saved the Queen and on June 22, 1897, millions of her subjects across the world celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.
The spirit of the occasion was summed up by a Canadian journalist, who declared that: 'The citizens of the Empire upon which the sun never sets rose as one to show their devotion to their beloved Queen.' Her Majesty responded to this loyalty with a message to all her dominions and colonies: 'From my heart I thank my beloved people, May God bless you.'
Her telegram took 15 minutes to reach New Zealand, whereas at the start of her rule such a message would have taken four months by boat; her reign had coincided with an age of unprecedented technical and scientific progress. This Monday, February 6, is the anniversary of the day 60 years ago that Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne. It is the official start of her Diamond Jubilee, which will be celebrated in Britain and in those realms where she still reigns such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Come the summer, there will be fireworks and parties aplenty. Highlights will be the equestrian display staged at Windsor Castle to reflect the Queen's love of horses and, of course, the greatest river pageant the world has seen for centuries, with a flotilla on the Thames of more than 1,000 vessels, centred on a royal barge in which Her Majesty will be travelling. London Mayor Boris Johnson has said the Diamond Jubilee celebration will outshine the Olympics and that it could well be the greatest public celebration for generations.
Yet despite this summer's expected display of heartfelt thanks for Her Majesty's high sense of duty, there is no doubt that a century or so of history have removed the Imperial grandeur and pomp of the public shows at Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
In 1897, Britain was at the height of her powers. Victoria ruled over some 300 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom were Indians, and her possessions covered 1.8 million square miles.
'We hold dominion over palm and pine,' proclaimed Rudyard Kipling, the unofficial laureate of the Empire, and pieces of commemorative chinaware often combined her portrait with maps in which each Imperial possession was coloured red.
Sheriffs, yeomen, militia and volunteers making preparations in St Paul's Churchyard for Queen Victoria's celebrations
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