i know many people think it's pointless and a waste of money having a royal family in this day and age and that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations have been over-hyped, but i'm actually really proud of having a Queen and i love all the pomp and ceremony that goes with it. And judging by the crowds at every changing of the guards ceremony at Buckingham palace, so do plenty of other people. i have seen the changing of the guards a few times, been round Buckingham Palace (very opulent), visited the Tower of London and seen the Crown Jewels, seen Horse Guards Parade and always watch the Trooping of the Colour on TV.
So i am very excited about watching all the celebrations on TV this weekend and we've also chosen to join in several Jubilee parties, BBQs and fetes as well. Yesterday and today Poppy chose to dress up as a princess and Finn insisted on dressing as a monster (think he got confused with Halloween!). Finn just wants to eat all the party food and keeps asking for 'more cake?' but Poppy is also interested in seeing the carriage procession, the horses and the jewels and crowns. She understands that the Queen is celebrating being the Queen for a long time and this is why we're having a long weekend and parties. William of course doesn't really care about any of it but is happy to have his family around him this weekend.
So in a little while we're all sitting down to watch the boat pageant live on TV (sailing up the Thames) while we have a 'picnic' style lunch sitting on blankets on the carpet. And i've been reading lots of books, souvenir brochures, newspaper articles and so on about the Queen recently, and have found out lots more about the history of the Royal family and the Queen's job in particular. And i have a lot more respect for her as a result. People tend to think that being the Queen is easy, surrounded by wealth and every need you have attended to and being waited on by servants and eating fancy foods, but it's actually really hard work and means you never get a moment to yourself, you have to have loads of boring meetings and read tons of paperwork, attend functions that you don't really want to go to, get sent all over the world but can't sightsee or relax, constantly live with the threat that someone might try to harm you and can't ever just pop out to the shops or go to the cinema etc like normal people can. Your whole life really is dedicated to 'serving' the country, although admittedly it's a different type of 'service' from mine as a slave - mine is to one person and is a very submissive role, but even so the Queen's service takes just as much sacrifice and dedication as mine does.
So, here's to the Queen and i look forward to celebrating her 70th Jubilee too! (Link to a sweet song that i played for Poppy on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEqC8_I7Bhk )
