Republicans Are In Retreat Thanks To Our Impeccable Queen

'Nothing symbolises our political stability more than Her Majesty'

- Ross Clark

ALTHOUGH the elderly Queen was unable to ascend the steps to St Paul’s and a service giving thanks for her long reign had to be held outside the cathedral, she was in good spirits as she took part in a six-mile, 17-carriage procession around London.

As she later wrote in her journal: “The streets, the windows, the roofs of the houses were one mass of beaming faces, and the cheers never ceased”. The souvenir salesmen ended up beaming, too, as did the publicans as they were allowed to keep the beer flowing until 2.30am over this specially-declared public holiday to celebrate the royal jubilee.

That wasn’t this week, but 125 years ago. Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee was a fitting celebration for what had been an extraordinary 60 years.

Britain was unrecognisable from the country which existed when she took the throne.

Railways now criss-crossed the land. Factories pumped out a wealth of goods which would have been unimaginable a few decades earlier. Sanitation had improved beyond all measure, and with it life expectancy.

We love to moan about our everyday lives but, if we could only bring ourselves to see it, we would appreciate the second Elizabethan age is just as worthy of celebration now as the Victorian age was in 1897.