It’s nearly time to party! With only a few days left to go until the Jubilee weekend, communities worldwide are preparing to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, either by attending an official Jubilee event or hosting their own street party! The Diamond Jubilee is a celebration of 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. An interesting fact: on February 6, 1952 Princess Elizabeth acceded to the throne and it took over a year to arrange the coronation, which was held on June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey.
 The Queen is the second longest serving monarch in the United Kingdom: only Queen Victoria has ruled longer with a reign of 63 years. For more interesting facts about Queen Elizabeth II, CMB highly recommends the official
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee website and acknowledges it as the source for several of the images that we have used in this post.
As befitting recognition of a lifetime dutifully spent servingÂ
(remember seeing the important theme of duty in the Queen’s life play out in the 2006 film starring Helen Mirren as the titular character?), there will be much festivity from June 2-5th. The UK expects to see at least double the amount of street parties compared to last year for the Royal wedding and in London alone there are expected to be 1,768 street parties!
Here at CMB we are ready to throw our own Jubilee style street party with help from lots of Anglophiles!
Our neighbors down the street, Myers of Keswick, will host a pop-up shop of their best British groceries: famous pork pies and sausage rolls beginning June 1st. Miss Hope and Mr. Greenwood have to mind their confectionery shop in Covent Garden (eponymously named Hope & Greenwood), but they’ve sent us splendidly, nostalgic British candy and lots of sweet cheer!
It’s not too late to organize your own Jubilee celebration, too. CMB has all the décor and British imported foods you’ll need to be a proper host or hostess. Start by setting the tone with a festive garland of bunting (Talking Tables, $14), sponge cake toppers with corgis and Buckingham Palace (Talking Tables, $4.95), a cupcake kit with Union Jack pattern wraps and Royal Guard figures (Meri Meri, $12.95), and red striped paper straws (Kikkerland, $5.95).
Serve Shortbread House of Edinburgh’s world-renowned shortbread and Oaties biscuits, Prestat Chocolate’s Jewel Box chocolate truffles, and Island Bakery Organics Lemon Melts from the Isle of Mull off the coast of Scotland.
Send guests home with a “Keep Calm and Carry†canvas tote bag (Wild and Wolf, $11.95) filled with a can of
Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls and
Summerdown Mint Crisps. Or for a non-edible gift that will last long after the Jubilee weekend, express your Anglophilia with a teapot vase (Talking Tables, $10.95) to be filled with the flowers of your choice-
CMB suggests English roses, Scottish thistles, Welsh daffodils and Irish shamrocks!
You can also order a variety of English products and gifts online: many of our exlusive English gifts and imported foods can be found on our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee page.
CMB will be decked out for the Diamond Jubilee: as a store that began with importing British specialty foods, we’re always happy to recognize how great Great Britain truly is! We look forward to sharing this exciting time in UK history with you from our own corner of New York, and hope to see you soon at the store.
