What a difference two decades can make. While Queen Elizabeth II marked 1992 as her “annus horribilis” of disintegrating family relationships and a fire at Windsor Castle, she’s spending 2012 basking in the pomp of London’s summer Olympic Games and marking a major milestone: 60 years as monarch.
“It is a very proud thing for us,” said Sarah Gilbert, a native of Britain and former president of the British American Business Group in Atlanta. “We have a monarch who has managed to be on the throne for 60 years. She’s someone we can hold up not as being flawless, but as a good example. She’s the reason so many people go to the U.K.”
On Saturday, residents of Britain’s 54 Commonwealth nations will mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with parades, block parties and performances. In the metro area, it will be easy to spot the British citizens and Anglophiles: They’ll be the cricket-playing, millinery-sporting, tea-drinking crowds packing Oglethorpe University for a British bash.
The day of music, food and sports modeled after a traditional summer fete is the area’s main attraction for those who claim a Commonwealth connection either as citizens, descendants, spouses or just fans. They'll linger in the beer tent, enter a hat-making contest, compete in a spoon-and-egg or relay race and take in performances by Scottish, Irish and Indian dancers and musicians. And no one will want to miss the arrival of the Queen’s stand-in -- a local Brit who will step into the royal shoes and out of the limo the real Queen used during a New Zealand tour.
But for many British citizens who call the metro area home, the Jubilee is not just an excuse to party, but an event with deeply personal connotations.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Lyn Hovanesian, president of Georgia’s Daughters of the British Empire, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for assisted living homes. “The Queen is very, very highly thought of by most Britons. She has devoted her life to the service of her country, and she carries it out in an exemplary fashion. I was in London for the 50th anniversary, and the whole country went into party mode, which I’m sure is going to happen again.”
Hovanesian, who came to the U.S. in 1971 and has lived in Alpharetta for 20 years, points out that the Queen is only the second person in history to achieve such ruling longevity. Queen Victoria held the position for 63 years.
“Queen Elizabeth has been through thick and thin -- it does certainly recall Queen Victoria’s reign that was marked by personal tragedy,” said Ian Fletcher, an associate professor who teaches British history at Georgia State University. “Elizabeth came to the throne as young woman and has presided over quite a lot of change -- you think immediately of the decolonization of the British empire -- and her longevity speaks to the endurance and versatility of that institution.”
To 50-something Annabelle Malins, the British consul general in Atlanta, Elizabeth is the only monarch she’s known.
“She’s been a tremendous point of constancy when so much of the world is changing,” Malins said. “She’s been there at key moments in our national life. She has seen 12 prime ministers, six popes, six archbishops of Canterbury, the Beatles and Lady Gaga. It’s quite incredible that through all that, she’s been our head of state.”
Malins spearheaded Saturday's celebration, pulling together the resources of British-related groups across the metro area that will showcase the Commonwealth’s diversity.
“This event is a first for us,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to bring so many people together to celebrate. We’ve been teaming up with people from Canada, Australia, Asia, India and the Caribbean nations to celebrate our great heritage as well as the multicultural face we have today. It's going to be one terrific party.”
Jubilee Day in Atlanta Area British organizations invite the public to join a celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. An exhibition cricket match is set for noon, with other events throughout the day. Admission is $10 per car. Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 404-681-2224, www.babg.org.
Also Saturday: Churchills, a British pub in Buckhead, marks the Jubilee with free Bacardi and Coke cocktails from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Starting at 8:30 p.m., listen to live music with a British connection. No cover. 3223 Cains Hill Place, Atlanta. 404-233-5633, www.churchillsofbuckhead.com.
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