The Reunion

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Factual: Life Stories

Series which reunites a group of people intimately involved in a moment of modern history

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The Reunion: The Silver Jubilee

The Silver Jubilee

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion, The Silver Jubilee

Kirsty Wark reunites people involved in celebrations for the Queen's silver jubilee.

Kirsty Wark reunites key people involved in the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977 when communities were alive with streets parties and the nation turned red, white and blue.

Kirsty Wark reunites key people involved in The Queen's silver jubilee of 1977 when communities were alive with streets parties and the nation turned red, white and blue. 

The late '70s, industrial unrest continued to rumble, inflation was at 15% and the dole queue was long. What the nation needed was a huge party. At the start of the year, the appetite for celebrations was underwhelming. But in the spring of 1977, the Queen embarked on a huge tour of the commonwealth, visiting 36 countries including all four corners of the United Kingdom and getting the public in the mood for a summer of celebrations. 

Elsewhere, anti-royalists staged their own spectacles including the notorious punk band the Sex Pistols who performed their hit record God Save The Queen on a boat which sailed past the Houses of Parliament. They were eventually stopped in their tracks by the police.  
 
Kirsty is joined by veteran Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter who describes the “electric” atmosphere on The Mall, where thousands had camped out overnight to get a better view as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh passed by in the Golden State Coach. Royal biographer Hugo Vickers describes how he worked in the office of the London Celebrations Committee which set in motion local street parties and glamorous cultural events. Mary Pearson, whose father Sir Martin Charteris was the Queen's Private Secretary, attended many of those events and sat of the wall of Clarence House gardens to watch the Queen process through the crowds to a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral. 


Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest 
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

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