Today is a historic day, as today the Queen becomes the first monarch ever to celebrate her Sapphire Jubilee. She acceded to the throne on this day sixty-five years ago.
We are informed that the Queen will be spending the day quietly at home in Sandringham. Various guns will be fired in public places to mark the event, but that is all. For us, this is the anniversary of the Accession; but for the Queen, today is the anniversary of her beloved father’s death, who coincidentally died at Sandringham, so she never celebrates this day: all Jubilee celebrations tend to take place on June 2 or thereabouts, the anniversary of the coronation.
