In addition to the official major events, Grätzel pays tribute to the Queen with street parties. From corgi parades to champagne buses.
The essentials for a fine party? A beautifully set table. And what if the party is to be open to thousands of people? Then the table is shipped out onto the street.
That’s exactly what restaurateurs in London’s ritzy Mayfair did this weekend, transforming North Audley Street, a stone’s throw from Oxford Street, into a hip, floral outdoor eatery with a 60-metre-long table in the middle of the lane. An offer that drew the crowds.
Because the official royal events, the parades, fireworks shows and Saturday night’s big concert at Buckingham Palace (which was broadcast on the big screen in Hyde Park) are just a fraction of the nationwide celebrations. Tens of thousands of communities and private event organizers pay tribute to the Queen with their own parties.
Mileage table
Columbia Road Market in the north-east of the capital organized a corgi parade, Wilderness Park in Croydon featured music from seven decades and anecdotes from residents about the Queen, and Ashford, south of London, featured 1950s outfits celebrated.
The towns of Goring in Oxfordshire and Streatley in Berkshire will attempt to break the world record for longest jubilee plaque today, Sunday. 500 tables are lined up through the main streets of both villages and should make up one kilometer. At the last diamond jubilee in 2012, the organizers didn’t let the pouring rain stop them from throwing a party for 4,000 people.
Not a table that stretches for miles, but there will be a party that stretches for miles in Walthamstaw in north-east London: with street performers, open-air disco and of course – this is England after all – the opportunity to play cricket.
Nevertheless, teacher Hayley Peace came to London with friend Charlotte Thacker from Birmingham especially for the street party in Mayfair. In the late afternoon they sit at the party table with a glass of Nyetimber sparkling wine, which officially cannot be called champagne, in a plastic champagne flute.
At the time, visitors were pushing their way through the narrow aisle, and long queues had formed in front of the wine stands or the ice cream truck at Connaught Patisserie. The high flower arch is a photo attraction and because the seats at the table are all occupied, more and more people are settling down on the side of the road with a take-away box, for example from the posh fish and chips shop.
Is it about the Queen?
Does the Queen even have reason to come, or is it mainly about the party? “But no, we love the Queen!” Says Hayley Peace. “You just have to love her.” But of course, adds the 62-year-old Same Oliver: “After all, she is the last great regent of our time. 70 years, who can top that?” Matthew Swabey, 27, seated with university friends on the open deck of the mint green double-decker Nyetimber bus, admits that the parties are, of course, a pleasant aftertaste of the anniversary.
Today’s Sunday marks the end of the great Queen celebrations. As with the previous two anniversaries (Gold 2009, Diamond 2012), the whole country is celebrating the “Big Jubilee Lunch”. In main squares, in side streets or in Windsor in the middle of the famous “Long Walk” promenade behind the castle people eat lunch in red, white and blue. And in addition to the Queen, the community celebrated a bit.