Lighting of the Edinburgh Diamond Jubilee Beacon

Husby was nice enough to let me drag him all the way down to Holyroodhouse yesterday so we could watch them light the Jubilee beacon on the roof. Fortunately, it was a pleasant night for a long walk, and we killed time while waiting around by talking to a nice couple from Yorkshire who were in town to celebrate their second anniversary. If you two are reading this, happy anniversary!

Sorry about the video quality--I was shooting this on my phone.

I didn't take this one (obviously) but thought it was worth including:

Jubilee

Exactly 59 years ago today (just over a year after she inherited the throne), Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey. And so, this weekend, we in the UK are celebrating the Queen's diamond jubilee. Happy 60th anniversary, your majesty!

The coronation itself was a fairly groundbreaking event: it was the first coronation to be televised, and subsequently the number of television-owning households in Britain doubled to 3 million. The country was still dealing with post-war austerity at the time, and a little glitz and a lot of bling were something of a balm to the national soul.

Elizabeth is only the second monarch in British history to celebrate the diamond jubilee (Victoria, of course, was the first, and in three years and about 100 days, Elizabeth will have beaten her record) and the country's showing its patriotic side, even in Scotland, where the powers that be are still wrangling for independence. Shops have their bunting and royal portraits on display, street parties are planned, and we'll have a beacon lighting up at the castle Monday night. It's also a bank holiday weekend. Hurrah, long-serving monarchs!

The fact that Queen Elizabeth is still going strong begs the question, though: what comes after a diamond jubilee? Platinum?