
Test your English: Queen Elizabeth II …The Platinum Jubilee….
Text: Joanne Edwards
Fotos: MasterSergeant - stock.adobe.com, Porträt: www.kaindl-hoenig.com
Whether you are a fan of the British Royal Family – or not, you can‘t help but admire Queen Elizabeth II. On February 6th, she became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, having acceded the throne on 6 February, 1952 – when Her Majesty was just 25 years old. She was totally unprepared to take over the throne when her father, King George VI, suddenly died, but did so with her head held high. Three million people flocked to London on 2 June, 1953, to watch the beautiful Princess Elizabeth on the day of her coronation. Millions of others, who were fortunate enough to have a black and white television, watched in amazement as they saw their future queen, close up, for the first time. She then made a promise to serve her people her whole life, whether short or long, and she has certainly kept this promise – for 70 years.
So much has happened over the course of the Queen‘s life and we are used to seeing her travelling around the world, wearing brightly coloured dresses with matching hats. When asked why she wears such colours, she said that she likes to be seen in a crowd. Most people praise her for her poise and elegance but, unfortunately, she has had to face a lot of criticism. For example, even though she was allowed to marry the man that she loved, Prince Phillip, she did not allow her sister, Princess Margaret, to marry Peter Townsend and her sister never forgave her for this. More recently, she forbade her eldest son, Prince Charles, to marry the love of his life – Camilla. He was forced into marrying an innocent virgin, Diana, and this had a very tragic end, as we all know. Many people blamed Camilla for the break up and divorce of Charles and Diana and so much heartbreak could have been avoided. Queen Elizabeth is preparing to hand over the crown to Prince Charles and has specifically asked for his wife, Camilla, to be called Queen Consort.
Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth has been suffering from poor health for the last few months and it‘s hardly surprising. Last year, she lost her beloved husband of 73 years and, due to covid, had to sit alone in the cathedral during his funeral. She has had to hear about the sex scandal surrounding her favourite son, Andrew, and strip him of his titles. She even helped him to pay 12 million pounds compensation to the underaged girl he allegedly abused. Finally, she has had to watch her grandchild, Prince Charles and Diana‘s son, Prince Harry, leave Britain and appear on American chat shows, revealing what life was really like in Buckingham Palace. Harry has also written a book about this and it should be published about the same time as Britain is preparing to celebrate the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee.
I sincerely hope that Queen Elizabeth, who will be 96 in April and has just recovered from covid, will be well enough to enjoy the special celebrations that have been organised all over Britain and the Commonwealth. From 2 – 5 June there will be a „once in a generation show“ that will mix the best of parades, ceremonies and special effects to celebrate this historic milestone. There will be huge street parties, where families, friends and neighbours will get together to decorate the streets with flags and decorations and enjoy a jubilee lunch together.
Covid permitting, I will be in London celebrating this very special occasion too. When the bands start playing God Save the Queen, I am sure that I will get goose pimples, curtsy and raise my glass to this very special lady.
to admire – bewundern
to accede the throne – den Thron besteigen
unprepared – unvorbereitet
to flock to – zusammenströmen
coronation – Krönung
to be fortunate – das Glück haben
in amazement – erstaunt
close up – ganz nah
a promise – ein Versprechen
certainly – sicherlich
over the course of – im Laufe von
to be used to sth. – etw. gewohnt sein
to wear – tragen
matching – passend
in a crowd – in einer Menschenmenge
to praise – loben, preisen
poise – Gelassenheit
unfortunately – leider
to face sth. – mit etw. konfrontiert sein
criticism – Kritik
for example – zum Beispiel
to forgive – vergeben
more recently – in jüngerer Zeit
to forbid – verbieten
forced – gezwungen
an innocent virgin – eine unschuldige Jungfrau
to blame – verantwortlich machen
divorce – Scheidung
heartbreak – großer Kummer
to avoid – vermeiden
to prepare – vorbereiten
to suffer – leiden
hardly surprising – kaum überraschend
funeral – Begräbnis
surrounding – rings um
to strip sbd. of a title – jmd. einen Titel aberkennen
compensation – Entschädigung
allegedly – angeblich
abused – missbraucht
revealing – enthüllend
to appear – erscheinen
to be published – veröffentlicht werden
to recover – sich erholen
milestone – Meilenstein
Covid permitting – wenn Covid es erlaubt
goose pimples – Gänsehaut
to curtsy – einen Hofknicks machen