LBC Views: The Queen deserves a great Jubilee party - thank you for inviting all of us
1 June 2022, 15:03
For most of us Britain in 1952 is something we only know through family recollections or history books.
Very few of us can recollect the post war time when Winston Churchill was Prime Minister, tea was rationed and a pint of beer cost just 6p.
It seems bizarre to think but Britain was still to see its first supermarket, commercial tv, passenger jet and motorway.
Yet that was the world 27-year-old Princess Elizabeth inhabited when she ascended the throne following the unexpected death of her father George VI.
And over the next seven decades, she has been the ever present monarch, using her natural warmth and wisdom to help guide the nation through some troubled times.
Over the course of her reign, Britain has abolished the death penalty, banned corporal punishment in schools, allowed homosexuality, dealt with the troubles in Ireland and sent troops to conflicts as diverse as Afghanistan and the Falklands.
She has provided an independent, wise sounding board for 14 Prime Ministers and touched millions of people around the world with her kindness and strength.
All the time she has needed to step in and sort out her own family feuds and divorces.
I am fortunate enough to remember her Silver Jubilee as a young child in 1977. I was only four but I remember my mother thrusting a little flag into my hand and walking down to the bottom of our street just in time to see the beaming Queen on a visit to Nottinghamshire.
The seventies had been a troubled decade and it was an excuse for a party.
Fast forward 45 years. It has been a difficult few years and once again The Queen has showed tremendous courage, dignity and warmth.
No-one could have failed to have been moved by the heartbreaking sight of The Queen alone at Prince Philip's funeral and we all feared for her health earlier this year when she caught Covid.
Fortunately we all saw her well and clearly enjoying herself at the Chelsea Flower Show last week.
Happy jubilee Ma'am.
Thank you for your duty and service.
You deserve a great party and thanks for inviting us.
