The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the UK Web Archive
By Nicola Bingham, Lead Curator, Web Archives, British Library.
6th February 2022 marks 70 years since King George VI passed away in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham and Princess Elizabeth, his oldest daughter and next in line to the throne (who was in Kenya at the time) became Queen. She was crowned a little over a year later as Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at age 27.
Platinum Jubilee
2022 will see communities come together to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee throughout the UK and Commonwealth. Celebrations will include street parties, concerts, the 'Queen's Green Canopy', an initiative to plant a tree for the jubilee, a Jubilee Pageant, 'a River of Hope', made up of flags decorated with images of hope drawn by children which will make its way along the Mall and the opening of the royal palaces, Sandringham and Balmoral to visitors amongst other events. The focal point of the celebrations will be a four-day long bank holiday weekend, from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June.
The Queen's Platinum Jubilee logos in English and Welsh.
The UK Web Archive will be capturing a record of this momentous event in a special collection about the Platinum Diamond Jubilee.
We have a series of collections related to the Queen and other members of the royal family, dating back to 2012 when the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. This collection was co-curated by the Royal Archives at Windsor, the UK Legal Deposit Libraries and the Institute of Historical Research. It contains archived copies of websites produced by the Royal Household together with a wide range of related material such as Blogs, commentaries, news articles together with anti-monarchist and opposing views. Similarly in 2016 the Legal Deposit Libraries curated a collection to mark the Queen’s 90th Birthday.
Source: boingboing.net/2012/04/20/maamite-is-jubilee-marmite.html
In 2021 staff at the Legal Deposit Libraries curated a collection to commemorate His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh (10th June 1921 to 9th April 2021). It includes the websites of many of the organisations that the Duke was associated with during his lifetime, either as President, Patron, Honorary Member or in another capacity. The Duke had special interests in scientific and technological research and development, the welfare of young people, education, conservation, the environment and the encouragement of sport. The collection also includes statements from Commonwealth Organisations reflecting on the life of the Duke.
This year we will be curating a collection to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. We'll announce ways to contribute to this collection in the near future, however in the meantime if you know of, or contribute to a UK or Commonwealth website with relevant content related to the Queen please let us know via our ‘Save a website’ form. We would be particularly pleased to hear from you if your website features personal or community stories about the Platinum Jubilee, or previous years’ Jubilee celebrations.