Lucy Worsley, curator of Historic Royal Palaces, cited many examples going back to the passing of the crown to a Protestant King in the so –called Glorious Revolution of 1688, while Robert Jobson, a commentator for a number of international broadcasters, gave the more recent example of the change of the Royal Family’s name in the twentieth century from Saxe Coburg Gotha to Windsor. Lucy Worsley thought the popularity of the Queen was now at an all time high in the year of her Diamond Jubilee; she described her as tenacious and very cool. Robert Jobson agreed that the Diamond Jubilee might well be the zenith of her 60 year reign; people in the UK saw her as representing the national interest, and this gave them a chance to celebrate their country and wave flags without seeming nationalist or racist.

Lucy Worsley said Historic Royal Palaces – the empty ones, which received no Government or Royal funding – were planning a number of projects to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Among them, the Crown Jewels would be better presented to the public at their home in the Tower of London, while the State apartments at Kensington Palace would reopen to the public in March with a grand new entrance. Robert Jobson said the Queen herself saw her role as Head of the Commonwealth as her most important, and it was the role where her influence had grown most over the years. She had described the Commonwealth as the original world wide web, and the Diamond Jubilee would be celebrated around the world.

Christopher Wyld