Unless you have been on Planet Zog, you’ll know that this weekend (2nd-5th June 2012), the UK and Commonwealth countries will be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Door2Tour did a little research and discovered that it was back in 1897 when we first celebrated a Diamond Jubilee of our sovereign Queen Victoria and things back then were ever so different compared to today. It would be great if we had a time machine to travel back to that era to witness the celebrations and Victorian way of life but unfortunately we do not have access to one so we thought instead it would be fun to compare 1897 and 2012 to see how we have progressed since Queen Victoria’s reign.
1897
• Queen Victoria was 78 when she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee and she was mother to nine children
• The Prime Minister at the time of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was Lord Salisbury – a Tory
• Similar to today, there was a Coalition Government, it was Conservative/Liberal Unionist
• The UK population was 40 million
• The 1880s saw an investment boom with a financial bubble built on speculation in Argentina and the USA
• However, in 1890, the banks crashed and at the centre of the crisis was Barings Bank which had to be bailed out. Confidence in the economy collapsed and the banks chose to stop lending
• A third of Londoners were poor and many saw the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations as an unnecessary distraction from dealing with the poverty and decline caused by the Economic Crash
• Popular music during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was ‘A Hot Time In The Old Town’ by Dan W Quinn
• Most popular car at the time of the Diamond Jubilee was the Daimler 4hp tonneau
• FA Cup Winners were Aston Villa
• Stories in the News included the founding of the Blue Cross animal welfare charity
• Even during Queen Victoria’s reign there were conflicts and at the time of the Diamond Jubilee, the Siege of Malakand was very much at the forefront of people’s thoughts. British forces were holding out against Pashtun Tribes on the India/Afganistan border
• Celebrations for Diamond Jubilee were much different compared to 2012. There was no rock concert outside Buckingham Palace, instead Queen Victoria enjoyed a Stately procession through the streets of London
• There was an open-air service at St Paul’s Cathedral which Queen Victoria attended in her carriage as she could not manage the steps to get inside
• Tens of thousands of people still crowded the streets of London on June 22nd and saw the celebrations as being a welcome symbol of stability, tradition and authority in an era of uncertainty
• Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem to mark the occasion and Edward Elgar composed some of his best verses
• Beacons were lit across the country, there was a breakfast party for 100,000 children and many places welcomed City Status including Nottingham and Bradford
2012
• Queen Elizabeth II will be 86 when she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee this weekend. She is a mother of four children
• The Prime Minister at the time of Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee is David Cameron – also a Tory
• Similar to Queen Victoria’s reign, there is a Coalition Government of Conservative/Lib Dem
• The UK population is 62 million
• Popular music during this time is ‘Chasing The Sun’ by The Wanted or ‘Young’ by Tulisa
• Most popular cars are the Ford Fiesta or Vauxhall Corsa
• FA Cup Winners were Chelsea
• Stories in the News, in addition to coverage of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, include Pudsey the Dog winning Britain’s Got Talent and the Leveson Enquiry
• There have been no end of conflicts during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the most memorable being The Falklands and the Iraq War. At the time of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, almost 10,000 British troops are serving as part of the International force in Afghanistan
• The celebrations in 2012 are a little different compared to 1897 with Prince Harry racing Usain Bolt
• It is more about the Royal Family rather than a figurehead and is more inclusive
• There’s a Royal Flotilla down The Thames, a rock concert in front of Buckingham Palace, a carriage procession through the streets of London featuring The Queen, Prince Philip, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well as other members of the Royal Family
• 2,012 beacons will be lit to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee with The Queen lighting the National Beacon outside Buckingham Palace
• There will be a service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral with the majority of the Royal Family in attendance
• The celebrations will culminate in a Balcony appearance, flypast and Feu de Joie – a celebratory cascade of rifle fire given as a salute by The Queen’s Guard, interspersed with the National Anthem played by the Band of the Irish Guards
It’s strange how things today are quite similar to those that happened back in Queen Victoria’s reign. Hoping this helps if you’re becoming a fan of all things Diamond Jubilee-related.