The Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Sixty years in the making,
Sixty years in the making,
Four days of pomp and pageantry,
Giddy-up, giddy-up,
The sun reflects off the stirrups,
The armada sets sail,
The river teaming with oars,
A guard of honour lines the route,
A magic horse opens up the clouds,
A sea of ants sets up camp beneath a clear sky,
Crotches and quavers ring out for "Mummy" and co,
The ants dance, shout and sing,
A million diamonds launched into the sky,
Her loyal subjects offer their thanks,
Together with the roar of fast jets,
Trooping the colours of red, white and blue,
United we say in God save the Queen.
Explanation
Sixty years in the making,
The 60 years on the throne that the Queen has had
Four days of pomp and pageantry,
Her Diamond Jubilee celebration, although throughout the year was mainly celebrated over four days
Giddy-up, giddy-up,
The sun reflects off the stirrups,
Day one took was centered around horse racing at the Epsom Derby. The Queen is known to be a big fan of the horses
The armada sets sail,
The river teaming with oars,
A guard of honour lines the route,
A magic horse opens up the clouds,
This refers to the massive boat pageant along the River Thames. The armada and mention of the oars is the huge number of boats, around one thousand. The guard of honour is the large numbers of people who came out to line the banks of the River Thames, despite the horrible weather to cheer on the royal family. The magic horse was the war horse demonstration outside on the roof of Royal Festival hall, which seems to grab the Queen's attention. The opening up the clouds refers to the rather inclement weather on that day
A sea of ants sets up camp beneath a clear sky,
Crotches and quavers ring out for "Mummy" and co,
The ants dance, shout and sing,
A million diamonds launched into the sky,
The third day was centered around a concert outside Buckingham Palace. The sea of ants (ants are mentioned a lot in my poems. I must have been a myrmecologist in a previous life!) refers to the huge numbers of people who stood on the Mall to watch the concert. The crotchets and quavers are types of musical notes, so many were played on this night. Ringing out for "Mummy" was when Prince Charles delivered a speech at the end and, rather sweetly, addressed the Queen/His Mum firstly as your majesty, then paused to say "Mummy". The million diamonds refers to the impressive fireworks display at the end of the concert
Her loyal subjects offer their thanks,
Together with the roar of fast jets,
Trooping the colours of red, white and blue,
United we say in God save the Queen.
The fourth and final day was celebrated by a church service and carriage procession in which thousands, maybe over a million people lined the streets to cheer the Queen on. There was a military flypast involving the Red Arrows which sprung the colours of red, white and blue, along with the thousands of Union Jacks on display. The national anthem was also sung many times throughout this long weekend
