LONDON — Was this the most British picnic ever?
Marking Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday, thousands gathered outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday for a giant street party that included a hamper-style picnic, cups of tea for anyone willing to queue, and rainy weather.
But Britons are a stoic lot, and there was little grumbling about the driving rain pounding the The Mall, a tree-lined boulevard that seems to roll out like a carpet from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. On Sunday it was transformed for the “Patron’s Lunch,” in honor of the queen’s patronage of over 600 charities, and to mark her 90th birthday.
“We’ve got rain, gin and tonic, Pimm’s and the queen — it couldn’t be more British if you tried,” said Luke Tripathy, a 39-year-old construction worker who was wearing a rain poncho and sipping a gin and tonic at one of the many wooden tables lined with hamper baskets, drenched table clothes, and jugs of Pimm’s, a favorite summer drink.
Like most of the 10,000 guests at the picnic, he bought a ticket for £150 ($214). Though some have criticized that as a bit too steep, organizers defended the ticket price, saying the proceeds go to charity.
The event has also faced criticism for being organized by a company run by Peter Phillips, the queen’s grandson, rather than putting the contract for the event out to tender.
Sunday’s celebrations were the last of a weekend brimming with birthday tributes, kicking off Friday with a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral attended by the royal family and other dignitaries.
In the evenings, the opening hours of pubs were extended in honor of the milestone.
There are many perks to being a British monarch, but surely one of them is having two (or three or four or five) birthday celebrations.
The queen seemed to make a joke about celebration fatigue when she addressed the throngs of well-wishers on Sunday afternoon.
“I much appreciate the kindness of all your birthday wishes and have been delighted and moved by the many cards and messages I have received. How I will feel if people are still singing happy birthday in December remains to be seen,” she said to the crowd.
The queen was born on April 21st, and this year she marked the occasion with walkabout around Windsor and over 1,000 bonfires. The following day she dined with President Barack and Michelle Obama.
But the public traditionally celebrates the queen’s birthday in June, a practice that dates back to the 1700s out of an aspiration — however fanciful — of having better weather for big events in the summer.
On Saturday, the queen’s official birthday, the monarch inspected troops in the annual spectacle that is Trooping the Colour. Later, members of the royal family gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. A picture of Princess Charlotte waving made some of the front pages of British newspapers.
The palace also released a new picture by the American photographer Annie Leibovitz featuring a softly lit picture of the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who turned 95 on Friday.
Britons across the country paid tribute to the queen, the longest-serving monarch in British history, in their own ways over the weekend. Thousands attended local picnics or street parties.
Republic, an anti-monarchy group, promised to hold a picnic near the palace that they dubbed “people’s picnic.”
Schoolchildren also have been celebrating the milestone, with some playing “pin the tail on the corgi.”
For atmosphere though, it would be hard to top the party outside the palace, where guests watched a parade before various members of the royal family — including Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — went on a stroll during a brief respite from the rain. The queen and Prince Philip also drove by in an open-topped car, waving to the crowd as some sang “Happy Birthday.”
“I just wanted to experience the feel of it,” said Valerie Cox, 63, a retired teacher who was at the street party standing in a long line for tea. She said she was normally a coffee drinker, but was happy to queue for anything warm.
“Whatever is warm today, I will take. If it’s hot ice cream I will have it,” she said.
Another guest, Carolyn Russell, a 76-year-old tour director, said that the weather was “absolutely awful” at the beginning, but catching a glimpse of the royals was “fantastic.” Russell’s elegant hat also drew compliments from Princess Eugenie, one of the queen’s granddaughters, as she worked the crowd.
And what about the queen? Does she enjoy all of the attention?
“It’s a bit of a contradiction because she never likes a fuss being made,” said Dickie Arbiter, the queen’s former press secretary, “ but when it is made she enjoys it.”
