[Brighton] A gift for HRH The Queen

[crodonilson]

What do you get a ninety-something monarch who has already received pretty much everything, from a gold-plated horse comb to carvings of pygmy hippos?

A committee of senior MPs and peers has been set up to choose a gift "fit" for the Queen to mark the 70th anniversary of her accession, in 2022.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said it would be a "token of our respect and love for Her Majesty and so must be a fitting tribute".

For her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Queen had a stained-glass window created for her in Westminster Hall.

The Golden Jubilee of 2002 saw a sundial installed in Westminster's Old Palace Yard, while the 1977 Silver Jubilee resulted in a fountain being built in nearby New Palace Yard.

The cross-party Project Committee - whose members include Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lords Speaker Lord Fowler - is expected to follow this tradition with an expectation the gift will be much grander than previous gifts for the Queen as it may be her last jubilee.

But the Queen is used to receiving more exotic gifts from the UK, Commonwealth and beyond.

These have included a wine cooler in the shape of a grasshopper, a marzipan statue and, more appetisingly perhaps, a tin of pineapple.

Well-wishers have also given Her Majesty animals such as cows, jaguars, kangaroos and a sloth - which have remained in their own habitats, for fear of ecological disruption and damaging the lawns of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

A governor-general of the Bahamas once presented the Queen with a painting of a swimming pig, while the Liberian ambassador proffered three mantelpiece-friendly wood carvings of pygmy hippos.

During the 2009 G20 summit in London, US President Barack Obama added a personal touch with his present - an iPod featuring coverage of her American tour two years earlier.

And a state visit by the Queen to the US in 1991 resulted in the gift of six pairs of cowboy boots - fine for a sun-drenched Texas ranch, but of more questionable use for long January walks around Sandringham.

The 70th anniversary of the accession - the Queen's Platinum Jubilee - occurs on 6 February 2022.

However, the main celebrations, including a four-day bank holiday weekend, will take place in June, the month in which the Coronation took place in 1953.

Sir Lindsay, who like the Queen is known for his love of animals, said: "To celebrate a Platinum Jubilee is a unique and historic first, so it is only right that we Parliamentarians mark this significant occasion with a token of our respect, affection, appreciation and thanks. It is an absolute honor to be on this committee and we will work tirelessly to ensure the gift is both appropriate and unique."

Lord Fowler said that, despite the UK's current travails, "we still have much to look forward to, including celebrating 70 years of Her Majesty's reign in June 2022".

Solicitor-General Michael Ellis, who organised the Queen's Diamond Jubilee gift, will lead the search for its successor, funded by generous donations from members of both Houses, and will strongly encourage members of the public to step up and donate for a gift to their monarch.

In a debate marking the Queen's 90th birthday in 2016, Mr Ellis told the House of Commons of his horror at discovering, shortly before the stained glass was placed in situ in Westminster Hall in 2010, "that the chain on the unicorn was the wrong way round, which presented a number of sleepless nights" he joked.

This was fortunately rectified in time for installation.


For the Diamond Jubilee Michael Gove had suggested the commonwealth to club together and buy a new yacht for her majesty, which would be paid for by a single pound from every person in the Commonwealth. So is it time to resurrect this idea??

Buy the Queen the Yacht she deserves claims Gove

 

[Bulldog]

P45?

 

[schmunk]

P45?

I'm not sure she'd be too happy driving it...?

 

[Dick Swiveller]

With a tip of the hat to Richard Herring - How about a Bag for Life? An ordinary 10p one should suffice.

 

[Bulldog]

Let the poor old dear put her feet up. She has done her bit, give her a break before she pegs it.

 

[timbha]

Respect

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Bit late with the yacht - had it been a few years ago she might have been able to use it. Now, by the time it got built, I fear it will be too late, and sadly certainly too late for her other half.

 

[Live by the sea]

Not a massive fan of the royal family but the queen has done an outstandingly fantastic job since 1953 . You can only admire & respect her . The queen also helps brings stability to the country & encourages tourism.

 

[AK74]

Curtains for you, Elizabeth my dear

 

[zefarelly]

Not a massive fan of the royal family but the queen has done an outstandingly fantastic job since 1953 . You can only admire & respect her . The queen also helps brings stability to the country & encourages tourism.

I agre with your first bit, but the second bit? You're having a laugh, we're all being turned against each other

 

[PeterOut]

Give her a couple of days off in June 2022, as thanks for being Queen for 70+ years.

I wonder how she would spend those few days over a long Bank Holiday if she could be one of the 'common people' for that short time?

 

[MattBackHome]

When you see a thread title like that and that it's been started by Crodo you just KNOW you're not going to be disappointed.

 

[Blue3]

HRH The Queen has been and still is an amazing monarch, when Brittania was sold off as a nation we did loose the opportunity for trade,good will visits particularly to countries that appear to be impressed with that sort of thing and it's somthing diffrent to other nations, all the worlds multi billionaires know the financial benifits of having a yacht I spent a couple of weeks opposite Roman Obramovic yacht and every day or so guests were collected by the ships launch everyone of them looked like crooks.
However if I was living in a poor country as a member of the Commonwealth I would be a lot less keen

 

[Madafwo]

Shirley the best gift anyone could get the Queen is for Andrew to disappear in perfectly normal and not at all suspicious circumstances, maybe in a tunnel in Paris?

 

[GT49er]

Bit late with the yacht - had it been a few years ago she might have been able to use it. Now, by the time it got built, I fear it will be too late, and sadly certainly too late for her other half.

I think she would be quite happy if we quickly recommissioned the first one - surely that would be much quicker (and cheaper too)?

 

[Raphael Meade]

I for one have been longing during this hard hitting pandemic to chip in to buy a 94 year old woman a super yacht

 

[lawros left foot]

I think she would be quite happy if we quickly recommissioned the first one - surely that would be much quicker (and cheaper too)?

I seem to remember a large part of the reason Britannia was decommissioned was she was becoming impossible to keep serviceable.She was a very old lady, in ship terms, and had done a hell of a lot of miles.

Also, with all the defence cuts, to have a dedicated crew of 120 plus matelots, when compulsory redundancies were being enforced across the armed services was not seen to be politically acceptable.

 

[BluesRockDJ]

Has anyone in Government thought that she might/could peg it by 2022 ??

 

[Algernon]

That link goes back to 2012 although a quick Google reveals that the need for a new yacht is still being touted.
I suspect her maj has even less need for one now than she did eight years ago.

 

[lawros left foot]

Has anyone in Government thought that she might/could peg it by 2022 ??

A comment like this about the King or Queen,in pre- Georgian times would have been considered high treason, and you would have been executed.