Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations kicks off; Commonwealth’s response lukewarm

The celebrations on the Queen’s historic platinum jubilee began Thursday with pomp and pageantry, but in Britain’s Commonwealth, she’s perceived as a living reminder of the terrible colonial past that still haunts many in the Caribbean.

Thousands went to the streets in London to honor the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch of Britain.

A military pageantry kicked off the festivities, with the Prince of Wales doing the salute on behalf of the Queen due to “mobility issues,” as reported by The Guardian. The Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal were both with the Prince of Wales for the salute.

The 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II acknowledged the salute of the returning Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment from the Buckingham Palace balcony. She was accompanied by the Duke of Kent, 86.

Joining her at the balcony were the Duchess of Cambridge, with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, who experienced his first carriage procession.

“Working royals only were to join the Queen on the balcony,” The Guardian reported, adding that the monarch had decreed “after careful consideration.”

As Britain celebrates the Queen’s platinum jubilee, there are nations in the Commonwealth that are using this as an opportunity to separate their nations from the British Empire.

“When I think about the queen, I think about a sweet old lady,” said academic Rosalea Hamilton, a pro-republic Jamaican, in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA). “It’s not about her. It’s about her family’s wealth, built on the backs of our ancestors. We’re grappling with the legacies of a past that has been very painful.”

“The British government has apologized and agreed to pay compensation, but the Windrush scandal has caused deep anger, both in the U.K. and in the Caribbean,” VOA continued to report.

Another expert has also commented on how the British “seem to be very blind to the visceral sort of reactions” that royal visits elicit in the Caribbean.