A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
WHO started the idea of a Silver Jubilee, for which, after all, there was no precedent ? I find from a study of Hansard that the first-reference to it in Parlia- ment was on May 29th last year, when Mr. Holford Knight asked the Prime Minister if it was the intention of the Government " to appoint a committee to make arrange- ments at home and in the Dominions for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of His Majesty's accession ? " and received the answer that " the matter is at present under consideration, and I hope to be able to make a statement shortly." The idea first came, I understand, from a spokesman of one of the Dominions, who wished to know if anything was being done to celebrate the twenty-fifth year of accession, adding that if so his Govern- ment would like to be associated with it. The matter was referred to the King and then back again to the Cabinet. It was recalled that the 70th birthday of the King also fell in 1985, and it was decided that there ought to be some ceremony to commemorate the double event. At the beginning there was no idea of staging a festival on the grand scale. But the magnificent reception that the King received in Lancashire last July when he drove through fifteen miles of cheering people to open the tunnel under the Mersey, and then the warmth of affection to the throne displayed at the wedding of the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina encouraged the organizers to extend the scope of the ceremony. Then came the Press agitation for greater pomp, and so the idea of the Jubilee grew and grew until it developed to its present size and splendour.
* * * *
Previous page
