As the nation prepares to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee following the beginning of the long bank holiday weekend, the city of Edinburgh seems to have attracted a number of English tourists who appear keen to get involved with the royal revelry.
Thursday, June 2, marks the beginning of the official festivities which has led to a number of UK companies declaring an extra days holiday for workers to mark the occasion, presenting the perfect opportunity to plan a quick trip to the capital.
With the weather looking promising, Edinburgh Live ventured into Princes Street Gardens to discover more about people’s plans to mark the historic event and their thoughts regarding the holiday.
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A newly decorated Jubilee themed floral clock situated next to the stairs in the East Side Garden is proving to be a hit with passers-by who were spotted stopping to take photographs of the attraction.
Sarah Williams, 39, from Lancaster was admiring the artwork when she admitted: “We’re not particularly royalists or anything by obviously The Queen’s been The Queen for 70 years so it’s good that there’s an extra bank holiday and it’s a pretty historic thing.”
Not long off her over two hours long train journey, Sarah has a number of outings planned for her and her family’s time across the border to make the most off her extra time away from work.
“We’ve come as tourists rather than specifically for the Jubilee so we’re going to go to The Museum of Scotland this afternoon, the castle tomorrow and The Botanical Gardens and do those sort of things,” she said.
The Brindleys from Wolverhampton are regular visitors of Scotland after Mr Brindley fell in love with the city during a 10 week training course with Royal Mail in 1974. They both say that they are looking forward to marking such a momentous occasion in a city that they “absolutely love.”
“I think the monarchy does an awful lot for Britain, Scotland as well,” Mr Brindley says.
“She’s [The Queen] done so well with all the things she’s done in her life. I’m just glad she’s been able to hang on,” adds Mrs Brindley.
David Stone, 62, from Cheshire has travelled up to visit his son and his partner and says he has been pleasantly impressed with the Jubilee themed embellishments spotted around the country.
He says: “We’ve seen more Union Jacks across the border than in the border so it’s been quite an eye opener, quite a surprise. It’s brilliant. We’re here for a long weekend because my son’s partner’s parents are going away for the weekend so we’re staying in their house. We’re having a barbeque tonight, I believe, with the house all decked up in Union Jacks.”
Linda Otterly, 58, has crossed the border to attend a family party that happens to fall on the same weekend as The Queen’s Jubilee, but she assured Edinburgh Live that if she was back home she would be doing something special to mark The Queen’s record breaking reign.
Linda says: “I would be involved in a street party. Where I live, we all got together and we planted some trees, we all put money towards it. I think some rose bushes were planted for the last Jubilee so it’s a bit of a tradition.”
“The monarchy has been around for such a long time and The Queen’s got to such a good age. It is the first time that any monarchy has been on the throne so long so it’s definitely worth celebrating. Also, because of COVID, I think people need something nice for a change.”
