Britain will host what has been described as a “blockbuster weekend” to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne in the spring of 2022, it has been announced. The celebration, which will include an extra day’s bank holiday, will surely come as welcome news to the British public, following the pandemic and subsequent reinforcement of stringent lockdown regulations.

“Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee will be a truly historic moment – and one that deserves a celebration to remember”, said culture minister Oliver Dowden on Thursday. “It will bring the entire nation and the Commonwealth together in a fitting tribute to Her Majesty’s reign”, he added.

Queen Elizabeth is the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch. In 2015, she overtook Queen Victoria as the British royal who had held the throne for the longest time. “Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones – my own is no exception”, she said at the time.

The nature of the celebrations has not yet been disclosed, but it is thought that they will bear similarity to events marking the Queen’s 60th year on the throne, held in 2012. The event was marked across the Commonwealth.

The Queen’s commitment to God has been notable throughout her reign. At her speech to mark her coronation on 2 June 1953, she said “When I spoke to you last, at Christmas, I asked you all, whatever your religion, to pray for me on the day of my Coronation – to pray that God would give me wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that I should then be making. Throughout this memorable day I have been uplifted and sustained by the knowledge that your thoughts and prayers were with me”.

On the event of the Queen becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Cardinal Vincent Nichols wrote and assured her of the Catholic Church’s prayers: “It is an honor and a pleasure to express the great loyalty and gratitude felt by the Catholic community of England and Wales for the outstanding and unstinting service you give to our nation and to people throughout the world”, he wrote. “We thank you too, for your steadfast insistence on the great importance of our Christian faith, given in both word and example, alongside your appreciation of the contribution made by other religions in our rich and diverse society today”.

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