The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the 70th and final anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was the first time that any monarch in British history or the other Commonwealth realms celebrated a platinum jubilee.
Initiatives to commemorate the jubilee were announced by the governments of many realms—including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom—and territories, such as the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar, and celebrations were also held in other Commonwealth member states, like the Gambia, Malaysia, Malta, Pakistan, and Samoa. Leaders from across the world, including from China, North Korea, France, Germany, Israel, and the United States, sent messages of congratulations to the Queen on reaching the milestone. In the United Kingdom, there was an extra bank holiday on 3 June and the usual spring bank holiday was moved from the end of May to 2 June to create the four-day Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend from Thursday, 2 June, to Sunday, 5 June. Commemorative stamps and coins were issued by several Commonwealth nations and beacons were lit in every Commonwealth capital for the first time. In many places, trees were planted in the Queen's honour.
The Queen died in her Platinum Jubilee year, on 8 September 2022, at the age of 96. Her funeral took place at Westminster Abbey in London on 19 September 2022 and she was buried at the King George VI Memorial Chapel in Windsor Castle later that day.
Accession Day 2022
The Jubilee marked the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.
In her 2022 Accession Day message, the Queen said that she hoped the platinum jubilee would bring together families and friends, neighbours, and communities. She said that the jubilee "affords me a time to reflect on the goodwill shown to me by people of all nationalities, faiths and ages in this country and around the world over these years". She thanked everyone for their support, loyalty and affection, and signed the message "Your Servant". She said of her 70-year reign and the future:
Pictures and footage of the Queen working from her red boxes at Sandringham House were released. The then-Prince of Wales said that the Queen's devotion to the welfare of all her people inspired still greater admiration with each passing year.
Tributes and messages of congratulations came from foreign leaders, including United States president Joe Biden, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf, Israeli president Isaac Herzog, UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, King of Thailand Vajiralongkorn, King of Morocco Mohammed VI, and Vietnamese president Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. A congratulatory message was also sent from Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania.
Jubilee emblems
United Kingdom The emblem for the platinum jubilee in the United Kingdom was announced in August 2021, following a competition which was judged by industry experts. The winning design was created by 19-year-old graphic design student Edward Roberts from Nottinghamshire.
The regal purple used in the emblem has been closely matched to the purple in the Queen's Robe of Estate, worn by her at the Coronation in 1953. A continuous platinum line in the shape of St Edward's Crown features the number "70" at the top of the Crown, signifying the Queen's 70-year reign and her platinum jubilee. Roberts included a circle to border the Crown, to create the impression of a royal seal. The emblem's typeface is Perpetua, which means "forever", and is similar to the font style that appeared on the Queen's Coronation Order of Service in 1953.
Canada The Canadian platinum jubilee emblem includes Elizabeth II's royal cypher above a numeral 70 in light-grey, the colour alluding to platinum. The cypher and numeral are surrounded by a seven-sided figure, adorned with seven maple leaves and pearls, representing each decade of the Queen's reign. Multiple elements also symbolise celebration, with the rounded edges being shaped like a flower petal and the maple leaves being positioned in a manner that resembles fireworks.
Australia The Australian Platinum Jubilee Emblem was unveiled by the Australian Government in March 2022. The emblem can be used for official and recognised events in Australia to celebrate the jubilee. The design is a stylised representation of the Queen's Wattle Spray Brooch, which was gifted to the Queen during her first visit to Australia in 1954. The emblem contains three colours – platinum, gold and purple. The platinum colour represents the Queen's 70 years on the throne, and the purple colour symbolises royalty. The gold is drawn from the golden wattle, Australia's national floral emblem. The font used is Perpetua, which means 'forever', which acknowledges that the Queen was Australia's "first platinum" monarch.
New Zealand On Accession Day, the New Zealand platinum jubilee emblem was unveiled. The emblem, approved by the Queen, was prepared by Phillip O'Shea, New Zealand Herald of Arms. Within a platinum five-sided frame is the Queen's royal cypher, with the Māori inscription "Te Hokotoru Mā Ngahuru", which means "three twenties plus ten", an allusion to the Queen's 70-year reign. In the base, the years 1952 and 2022 are in gold and placed on the poutama (step) design in the traditional colours of red-ochre and white. The design represents "steps of service", namely, the seven decades of public service by the Queen.
Celebrations throughout the Commonwealth The celebration plans were announced by Buckingham Palace on 10 January 2022.
For the first time, jubilee beacons were lit in every capital city of each Commonwealth country.
The Royal Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint partnered to create a two-coin set, with each mint designing a coin for the set. The silver coin designed by the Royal Mint has an equestrian portrait of the Queen on the reverse and a royal mantle on the obverse. The silver coin designed by the Royal Canadian Mint has a reverse design that depicts the Queen in 1952, while the obverse has the effigy of the Queen used on Canadian coins since 2003.
The Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on 14 March reflected the jubilee with a special focus on the role that service plays in the lives of people and communities across the Commonwealth.
Members of the Royal Family undertook a series of royal tours of Commonwealth countries. The governors-general of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Saint Lucia travelled to the United Kingdom in June to represent their respective countries at jubilee festivities.
In the evening of 1 June, the official jubilee photograph of the Queen was released. The portrait, by Ranald Mackechnie, was taken in the Victoria Vestibule at Windsor Castle on 25 May. The photo shows the Queen in a blue dress, with the statue of Charles II seen behind a window in the background.
In a special message, the Queen said "many happy memories will be created" over the next four days. She thanked everyone involved in convening communities, families, neighbours and friends to mark the Jubilee.
Following the platinum jubilee weekend, the Queen released a thank you message in which she said:
The Queen's Baton for the 2022 Commonwealth Games featured a platinum strand along its length.
United Kingdom This is the first time that any British monarch has celebrated a platinum jubilee.
There was an extra bank holiday on 3 June and the usual Spring bank holiday was moved from the end of May to 2 June, to create the platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend from 2 to 5 June. The British government promised a "once-in-a-generation show" that would "mix the best of British ceremonial splendour and pageantry with cutting-edge artistic and technological displays". The March 2021 budget allocated £28 million to fund Jubilee celebrations, which did not include the cost of the extra bank holiday. In an August 2021 impact assessment report, the British government estimated a £2.39 billion loss in GDP due to business closures during the extra bank holiday.
The jubilee was expected to bring a £1.2 billion boost to the UK economy. The Centre for Retail Research estimated that consumers in the United Kingdom would spend $356 million on Platinum Jubilee memorabilia. In July 2022, it was reported that retail sales dipped by 0.1% in June despite jubilee celebrations, which was less than what was expected amid the economic crisis, but still showed a downward trajectory. The food sector was the only sector that saw sales volumes spike by 3.1%.
Queen's Green Canopy
The Queen's Green Canopy campaign was launched in May 2021. The campaign invites people from the United Kingdom to plant a tree to make the local environment greener, and serve as a "special gift" to the Queen. By March 2022 more than one million trees had been planted.
A sculpture called 'Tree of Trees' was erected outside Buckingham Palace for the June celebrations. The sculpture, which contains 350 native British trees in the form of one giant tree, reflects the more than one million trees planted during the Green Canopy initiative. The trees were gifted to selected community groups for planting after the celebrations.
Jubilee stamps and coins The Royal Mint released one of the largest ever commemorative collections, including commemorative £5 crowns and 50p coins; the first time a royal event has been commemorated on a 50p coin. The 50p coin is designed to feature the Queen's royal cypher within the 0 of the number 70 on the reverse. The £5 crown features the quartered shield of the Royal Arms on the reverse. Both coins show the Queen on horseback on the obverse.
The Royal Mint also produced a diameter coin, which was commissioned by a private UK collector. It is the largest coin the Mint has ever produced. The £15,000 denomination coin was designed by coinage artist John Bergdahl and took nearly 400 hours to make. The obverse features a commemorative design depicting the Queen on horseback, while the reverse depicts the Queen's cypher surrounded by floral emblems of the four nations of the United Kingdom.
The Mint also released a new series of three coins, titled The Queen's Reign. The first coin focuses on the Queen's role as the 'fountain of honour'. The second coin highlights the Queen's role as patron of numerous charities. The third coin celebrates the Queen's role as Head of the Commonwealth, an organisation that she calls her "family of nations". Each coin in the collection features the Queen's signature in the centre; the first time that her signature has been featured on UK coinage. The coins were designed by Irish artist and illustrator P. J. Lynch, who was "inspired by the Queen's hands and the work they represent".
In February 2022, the Royal Mail released eight new stamps. The new set of stamps features photographs of the Queen throughout her reign, which commemorate different aspects of her royal duties, from the Trooping the Colour to worldwide tours.
Events leading up to June
The Platinum Pudding competition was launched on 10 January 2022 by The Big Jubilee Lunch and Fortnum & Mason throughout the United Kingdom to find a pudding to celebrate the Jubilee. Five finalists were selected to prepare their creations for a judging panel, with the winning recipe being made available to the public at Big Jubilee Lunches during the Jubilee weekend. The winning recipe, by Jemma Melvin from Southport, is a lemon Swiss roll and Amaretti trifle. The winner was announced on 12 May in the BBC One documentary The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking, with the Duchess of Cornwall in attendance.