Queen Elizabeth II: What is the Platinum Jubilee? - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.  

And I'm Sam. People in the UK are

enjoying a four-day holiday

as part of the celebrations

for Queen Elizabeth II's

Platinum Jubilee. A jubilee celebrates the

anniversary of a special

event, and the word is

mostly associated with the

Royal Family. In 2022,

Queen Elizabeth II

celebrates her Platinum

Jubilee, commemorating 70

years since she became

Queen in 1952. People are doing all kinds

of things to celebrate,

from large events at

Buckingham Palace and St

Paul's Cathedral, to

smaller street parties in

towns and cities up

and down the country,

and abroad. In this

programme, we look at

the Platinum Jubilee

in an unusual way, by

hearing about a cake

competition to make the

official jubilee cake -

the Platinum Pudding.

And, as usual, we'll be

learning some related

vocabulary as well. This isn't the first

celebration of Queen

Elizabeth's reign - the

period of time when a

monarch rules a country.

In 1977, the Queen

celebrated her Silver

Jubilee, marking 25 years

as queen, followed by

her Golden Jubilee in

2002, and her Diamond

Jubilee in 2012. But what's so special

about this year's Platinum

Jubilee is that Queen

Elizabeth II is the first

British monarch ever

to spend 70 years on

the throne. And I have

a question about it,

Sam. Queen Elizabeth II

is Britain's longest-ever

reigning monarch, but

who was the previous

longest-reigning before

her? Was it: a) Henry VIII?  

b) Elizabeth I? or c) Queen Victoria?  

I know it's c)

Queen Victoria. OK. I'll reveal the

answer at the end of

the programme. As the

first monarch ever

to have a platinum

jubilee, many celebrations

are being planned for

the Queen. These include

an official birthday

parade, Trooping the

Colour, which ends with

jet planes flying over

Buckingham Palace, and

the Platinum Pageant -

a live concert in front

of the palace, featuring

music and dancing,

puppets of the Queen's

favourite pets - her

corgi dogs - and a

performance by Ed Sheeran. And that's just in London.

All across the UK street

parties are being held

for people to eat and

drink with friends and

neighbours. There's a

tradition of inventing

a new food dish to

commemorate jubilees,

going all the way back

to the Victoria sponge,

a cake named after

Queen Victoria. This

year a competition was

held to find a new dish

to become the official

pudding of the jubilee.

Here's BBC reporter,

Daniella Relph, to

explain more. First, there was the

Victoria sponge, then

coronation chicken,

now we have a Queen

Elizabeth II Platinum

Pudding. The winning

lemon Swiss roll and

amaretti trifle is a

twist on a traditional

trifle, with layers

of Swiss roll, jelly,

custard, mandarins,

amaretti biscuits

and cream. In 1953, a mix of

chicken and curry cream

sauce called, coronation

chicken, was invented to

celebrate Queen Elizabeth's

coronation - the ceremony

at which she was

made queen. This year, competition

winner, Jemma Melvin,

has invented a lemon

and Swiss roll amaretti

trifle as the official

jubilee cake. Trifle

is a sweet, cold pudding

made of three layers -

a layer of fruit and

cake, a layer of

custard, and a top

layer of cream. Jemma's jubilee trifle

is a twist on a

traditional trifle.

When talking about

food, people use the

phrase a twist on

something to describe

a new variation of

a traditional recipe,

using different,

exciting ingredients. Jemma learned her

winning recipe from her

grandmothers. She wants

her trifle to be "the

people's pudding",

something to be enjoyed

by everyone. Here is

Jemma Melvin describing

how she felt to

discover her trifle

had been chosen as

the official

Platinum Pudding. I cannot believe it!

Everything that I was

up against was just

the most beautiful

desserts and pudding

with beautiful stories.

(That) this quite humble

trifle has won is

a bit surreal. Jemma describes her

trifle as humble - modest,

and not proud. Although

the pudding contains

ingredients like amaretti

biscuits and cream,

which are good enough

for a queen, she

wanted to base it on

a humble trifle,

something everyone around

the country can make. Enjoying a bowl of Jemma's

Platinum Pudding sounds

like a great way for some

to celebrate the Queen's

seventy-year reign. Which reminds me of your

question, Neil. We know

Elizabeth II has reigned

for 70 years, but who

was the second

longest-serving monarch?

I said it was c)

Queen Victoria. I'm glad you were so

sure, because you were

correct, Sam. Victoria

was queen for almost

64 years which is a

long time, but not as

long as Elizabeth. OK, let's recap the

vocabulary from this

programme about the

Queen's jubilee - a

celebration of the

anniversary of a

special event, usually

involving the Royal Family. A king or queen's reign

means the period of

time they rule a country. A coronation is the

ceremony at which someone

is made monarch -

the king or queen. Trifle is a popular

pudding made of a layer

of fruit and cake, a

layer of custard, and

a top layer of cream. If you say a food dish

is a twist on something,

you mean it's a variation

of a traditional recipe,

using new and

exciting ingredients. And finally, someone who

is humble is modest,

and not proud. If you were inspired

by this recipe, why not

try making it. But

that's all from us.

Goodbye for now. Goodbye!