It’s probably not a surprise that’s there a book about the history of royal jubilees has been published during the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. What is a surprise is that A History of British Royal Jubilees is the first in-depth look at the concept of royal jubilees. Queen Elizabeth has experienced four of them after all.

Although the book appears to start in 1887 and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the origins of the celebration go back to 1809. One woman, sensing a fading appreciation for the monarchy – especially after the American Revolution – proposed a celebration for George III’s 50 years of rule. Author Jane Woolerton looks at how the idea took hold, what concepts were taken from the Biblical meaning of the word “Jubilee,” and how the day was ultimately celebrated with only one brief appearance by the ailing monarch. From there, she looks at the celebrations for Queen Victoria’s two Jubilees and the four for Queen Elizabeth, and how the concept has changed in some ways but stayed very much the same in others. She suggests that Jubilee celebrations have often coincided with a downturn in the royal family’s popularity, and remarks upon how the festivities can change popular opinion for the better.

Given the release date of this title in the United Kingdom, I was surprised to see just how much had been written about the Platinum Jubilee. While some events took place earlier in the year, or had been announced in 2021, I felt that it was still maybe a little too early to analyze the celebration overall. Will goodwill toward the monarchy last for the rest of the year? The 2012 events included the Summer Olympics held in London. This year, events after June included the Women’s European Football Championships (which England won) and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. There have also been some not good events such as members of government resigning.

Overall, I found A History of British Royal Jubilees to be informative, entertaining, and straightforward to win. My electronic copy of the book didn’t include any illustrations or photographs, which was disappointing. According to the publisher’s website, however, there are 32 mono illustrations which hopefully accentuate some of the portraits, monuments, and merchandise described in the book.

Disclaimer: Although I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, the opinions above are my own.

As the title suggests, this new book focusses on Royal Jubilees – from King George III’s celebrations, through those of Queen Victoria, King George V and of course Queen Elizabeth II we look at how and why these anniversaries have been celebrated.

From the biblical origins of jubilees, the book focusses on each major royal jubilee that has been celebrated, highlighting the preparations, the people involved, the tangible mementos (from statues to souvenirs) and of course the costs of staging such celebrations. There is also a glimpse of how the ordinary people marked such occasions & a focus on how the jubilees became, and remain, a connection between the monarch and their people.
The empire/commonwealth countries who share the British head of state are also included and the book doesn’t shy away from including some controversial moments. It is right up to date, including details of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

There are some moments of repetition and the writing style is quite simplistic, but overall, this is a nice “coffee-table” style book that captures some significant moments in history.
It is quite poignant to think that we have now likely witnessed the last Royal Jubilee for an era. It is unlikely that H Queen Elizabeth II will live to celebrate the 80th anniversary (Oak) of reign in 2032, and her heir Charles is already 73 years old so unlikely to reach his Silver Jubilee. We may see the silver jubilee of King William V in the future, but it is unlikely we will ever see a monarch reach a platinum jubilee again!

I have been on a history kick recently so this book was everything and more! I wish it had come out before the jubilee but it was still great.

5 out of 5 stars

As a citizen of a Commonwealth country, this year was special because of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. I have always enjoyed reading about the British Royal family and the history of the British Monarchy, but I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading about it, until this year with the 70th Platinum Jubilee. So, when I saw that there was a book literally called "A History of British Royal Jubilees", I was absolutely thrilled.

Woolerton first gives us an in-depth but concise analysis of the origins of Royal "Jubilees" and how they made their way over to England. After reading that first chapter, even if you weren't familiar with jubilees/big royal celebrations, you will have a clear understanding moving forward in the book. What I really appreciated was the Monarch that Woolerton chose to be our "starting point". Basically, Woolerton doesn't give us unnecessary details with early British Monarchs; instead, Woolerton gives us Queen Victoria as our initial Monarch of analysis, which was helpful because I don't have much knowledge on the Monarchs previous to her, so I wasn't bored with any of the details.

This book does an excellent job at including intimate details on what the Jubilee meant not only in relation to the serving Monarch, but to the citizens/countries who were/are members of the Commonwealth. I think my favourite one to learn about was King George V:
"At the close of this memorable day, I must speak to my people everywhere. Yet, how can I express what is in my heart?" (Woolerton re. King George V, page 74).

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in British history and British Royalty!

I enjoyed watching the Jubilee celebration this year, so this was a welcome read. It was interesting to learn about what was done for similar events in the past. This will likely be of interest to those who love all things British!

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebration has recently concluded, and it is the 2nd of her jubilees that I have viewed. That is why this book, "A History of British Jubilees", is so timely. It gives a detailed history of jubilee celebrations in Britain starting with the reign of King George III and continuing on to the current monarch. Woolerton provides not just the details of the royal jubilees, but also the history behind the concept of a jubilee, which I never knew even with all the reading I've done. There is also information on how the citizens of the realm celebrate, and the importance of using the jubilees to show the royal family as being in touch with the people. It's a very informative, sometimes humorous, book and gives insight into all the behind the scenes work that goes into celebrating the monarch. A wonderful books for fans of all things royal!
Thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this advanced copy, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

A History of British Royal Jubilees is a wonderful written history for lovers of the Royal Family. After having just watched Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee, I was excited to read about the prior Jubilees held for the past monarchs. This book shows how beloved the celebrated monarchs were and are to the people of the Commonwealth with the many celebrations held in their honor. I was especially pleased to read this book included this year's Platinum Jubilee. There were many details that I had not seen or read about, so it was extra special to see them included.

This is a special book of memories full of love for the monarchs whose duty it is to serve the people.

I read this over Jubilee weekend, which I found to be a fitting time to read such a fascinating book. I can't recall ever coming across a history book focused just on a history of the British Jubilee celebrations, so the author automatically gets points in my book for a concept that seems so obvious, and yet is so original.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this early read. It was jam packed with interesting information about the British royal family.

This is an in-depth history of the Jubilee celebrations of the British monarchy, including the most recent Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The author includes often overlooked details of past celebrations. If you are as fascinated by the Royal Family as I am, you will enjoy this book.

Queen Elizabeth' II's Platinum Jubilee is now over. But while it was the third Royal Jubilee this century, it also seems likely to be the last one or a good long while.
The Queen is, after all, 96 and seems unlikely to be around for her Oak Jubilee commemorating an unprecedented eighty years on the throne in 2032. Prince Charles is already 73. Whenever he becomes King Charles III, t seems unlikely he'll reign for as long as 25 years. Prince William, currently aged 40, currently looks like the best hope for achieving this. And even then assuming both he and the institution survive that long we're still presumably looking ahead to some currently remote date in the 2050s or 2060s, before we see an elderly King William V celebrating his Silver Jubilee.
June Woolerton's book reminds us of British Royal Jubilees past. There actually haven't been as many as you might think. Half of them have, in fact, occurred under the present Queen (in 1977, 2002, 2012 and now 2022).
The first was George III's Golden Jubilee in 1810. Although not the first king to reach the fifty year mark, he was the first to celebrate it properly, despite his poor heath. He died in January 1820, around nine months before his reign reached the sixty year milestone.
Although the term 'jubilee'' was originally only intended to apply to 50th anniversaries, George's granddaughter, Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden and Diamond Jubilees in 1887 and 1897. Her own grandson, George V celebrated his Silver Jubilee in 1935. He died a few months later.
June Woolerton's book fills in the gaps on these occasional traditional Royal celebrations.

An enjoyed reading this one about Royal Jubilees as Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 70 years on the throne. This book does talk about Queen Victoria who had two jubilees one of which was Britain's first Diamond one. And how it's being going on since George III so it's "a modern thing"