Buckingham Palace has unveiled a set of new pictures of Queen Elizabeth to commemorate her historic Platinum Jubilee. The Queen has surpassed Queen Victoria’s 63-year reign as the first British monarch to reach 70 years on the throne. When her father, George VI, died of coronary thrombosis on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth, then 95, became Queen of the United Kingdom.
In the shadow of Buckingham Palace, 250 men and women carrying spears and muskets went gravely to the beat of a drum.
On Sunday, the King’s Army, a re-enactors society, commemorating King Charles I’s beheading on Jan. 30, 1649, after a feud with Parliament.
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The ensemble is a live — and marching — emblem of the monarchy’s importance to so many individuals. It’s also a reminder that the British royal family, although being one of the most enduring in the world, has had a turbulent history. While Queen Elizabeth II, who is celebrating her 70th year on the throne this year, is not in the same danger as Charles I was over 400 years ago, the monarchy today faces its own set of era-defining difficulties.
