{"id":15261,"date":"2012-05-28T09:18:03","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T14:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=15261"},"modified":"2012-05-28T09:18:03","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T14:18:03","slug":"three-jubilees-three-different-britains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2012\/05\/28\/three-jubilees-three-different-britains\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Jubilees, three different Britains"},"content":{"rendered":"

In The Economist<\/em>, “Bagehot” looks at the three most recent Jubilee celebrations, to see what the events might show of the state of Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 1977 Silver Jubilee:<\/p>\n

Celebrations in 1977 involved children\u2019s food\u2014sausage rolls and jelly, hot dogs and ice cream\u2014and beer for the grown-ups. There were violent sporting contests, from tugs-of-war to free-form football matches. To conquer reserve, fancy dress was worn, often involving men in women\u2019s clothing. From the West Midlands came news of an all-transvestite football game, with the laconic annotation: \u201call ended up in the canal.\u201d<\/p>\n

London displayed both patriotic zeal (flag-draped pubs in Brick Lane, big street parties in Muswell Hill) and hostility (cheerless housing estates, slogans declaring \u201cStuff the Jubilee\u201d).<\/p>\n

Scotland was a nation apart. A file reports \u201ctotal apathy\u201d in Croy. In Glasgow the anniversary was called \u201can English jubilee\u201d. Snobs sneered along with Scots. At Eton College, a wooden Jubilee pyramid was smashed by old boys. At Oxford University, examinations were held on Jubilee Day, in a display of indifference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 2002 Golden Jubilee:<\/p>\n

By 2002 and the Golden Jubilee, Britain comes across as a busier, lonelier, more cynical place. The royal family was \u201cjust showbiz\u201d, sniffed a diarist from Sussex. There is angry talk of Princess Diana and how her 1997 death was mishandled by the queen. There are fewer street parties than in 1977, all agree. This is variously blamed on apathy, the authorities (whose job it is to organise events, apparently) and above all on health-and-safety rules. In 1977, in contrast, one Wiltshire village cheerfully let a \u201cpyromaniac\u201d doctor take Jubilee fireworks home to add extra bangs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And finally, this year’s Diamond Jubilee:<\/p>\n

Visiting Wimbotsham, Bagehot is shown elaborate plans: cake-baking contests, pony rides, a teddy bears\u2019 picnic, a sports day, a pensioners\u2019 tea. But there will be no tug-of-war (people might hurt themselves) and the face painters have liability insurance. Still, the festivities will dwarf those seen in 2002, locals say. The monarchy endured a \u201cbig lull after Diana\u201d, suggests David Long, the driving force behind Wimbotsham\u2019s Diamond Jubilee. As the queen grows older, she is \u201cmore highly thought of\u201d. Linda Nixon, a Wimbotsham pensioner, credits Prince William\u2019s royal wedding with reviving enthusiasm. Prince William and his brother Prince Harry are \u201clike everyday people\u201d, she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In The Economist, “Bagehot” looks at the three most recent Jubilee celebrations, to see what the events might show of the state of Britain. The 1977 Silver Jubilee: Celebrations in 1977 involved children\u2019s food\u2014sausage rolls and jelly, hot dogs and ice cream\u2014and beer for the grown-ups. There were violent sporting contests, from tugs-of-war to free-form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,28],"tags":[570,396,338],"class_list":["post-15261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-britain","category-history","category-media","tag-england","tag-monarchy","tag-scotland"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hpV6-3Y9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15263,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15261\/revisions\/15263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}