St Paul’s Cathedral
A Sermon by The Very Reverend Dr Trevor James
Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral
Preached at Choral Evensong 18.11.2012 on the occasion of the
RSCM observance of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II
Curious things inhabit the family china cabinet. This Diamond Jubilee
event prompted me to investigate a cupboard I hardly ever go near.
There, at the back, in the darkest and most inaccessible corner, among
some ancient china and bits and pieces, I found it – a mug of Hammersley
bone china commemorating the royal tour of Australia and New Zealand
1952. I suppose my mother must have bought it. The sight of it brought
back to me the memory of an infant in the first year of primary school at
the Ridgeway School in Wellington and being issued with a NZ flag on a
stick and the whole school being marshalled down to Athletic Park where
we sat in the sun for long hours waiting, and dutifully flapped our flags
when the royal persons, gently waving, at long last passed before us in
their limousine.
The mug is a useful reference point: the memories it conjures feel
unbelievably remote now: unreal and maybe tinged with nostalgia and a
childish memory of a time when the world seemed a little simpler; a time
when we gave our loyalty and affection to the Queen without much
thought or question.
Contrast that with another memory, 60 years further on. Not seated on
the grass but in my armchair, and without any flag to wave, I am watching
the opening of the London Olympics. The whole event is surely a
masterpiece of Danny Boyle’s film-making. I see a London taxi arrive at
Buckingham Palace and out steps Daniel Craig (aka James Bond) who
strides purposefully through the palace, escorted by the corgis, to collect
Her Majesty and take her to the opening of the Olympics. She is
magnificently stern and clearly in command as together they board a
helicopter that travels through London capturing the attention of all below
who wave as the duo make their way to the Olympic Stadium where
helicopter hovers as the queen jumps out first and Bond follows. They
appear to parachute into the event. Of course Queen Elizabeth and Craig
did not arrive via the airway, but Danny Boyle created a clever optical
illusion to look as though the Queen and Bond came down from above!
Obviously the Queen graciously co-operated with Boyle in the making of
the film and when she enters the Stadium with Prince Phillip she is
wearing the same dress that we saw her wear in the film when she
jumped.
I dwell upon this YouTube video clip at some length because it presents
the Queen 60 years on in a way that is unexpected, startling, witty and
really rather endearing. For previous generations it would have been
inconceivable and, to be honest, it surprised most of us when we first saw
it. This seemed a radical departure from the traditional way in which we
have understood the Queen.
But this is why I believe we have much to give thanks for in this Diamond
Jubilee year. The Queen continues to be a symbol of continuity amidst the
flux and confusion of a desperately uncertain and changing world even as
she has faithfully and creatively adapted her role in a changing world. This
is what lies at the heart of tradition: a real and living tradition cannot be
frozen in time but needs always to be reinventing itself while still
remaining true to its essentials; offering us a lifeline through time and
across the years.
© Trevor James 2012
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