Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth

A Diamond Jubilee – the celebration of a British monarch’s 60th year on the throne – is a rare occasion. In fact, the only monarch so far to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee is Queen Victoria in 1897. As of February 6, 2012, Queen Elizabeth II will be the second British monarch to share her Diamond Jubilee with the world.

When her father – King George VI – died in 1952, Elizabeth was visiting Kenya, staying at the Treetops Lodge Hotel in Nyeri. Visitors entered the hotel by climbing a wild fig tree. When Elizabeth descended the tree on the morning of February 6, she learned that her father had died during the night – and she became the woman who “went up a princess and came down a queen.”

Dancers from Kenya will entertain the Queen during the Diamond Jubilee festivities, along with Maasai warriors, Samburu herdsman, the Nairobi Chambers Chorus choir and other performing groups from more than 17 nations. The main celebration will take place June 2-5, beginning with the Epsom Derby horse race. There will be a flotilla of ships on the Thames River, a concert in at Buckingham Palace, and a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Special museum displays, environmental projects and street parties will take place across London and throughout England.

In addition, members of the royal family will represent the Queen in far-flung locations linked to the British Empire. Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will travel to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will visit Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Prince Harry will visit the tropical destinations of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

The Diamond Jubilee promises to be an exciting prelude to the 2012 Olympic Games in London later this summer. Details of the celebration in London and elsewhere will be announced throughout the spring and early summer. However, it’s best to make your Jubilee-related travel plans as soon as possible.