My daughter's close Royal encounter

Dahil Father’s Day noong nakaraang Linggo

At nag-start na rin sa TV5 ang Game ‘n Go!,

Kaya pagbigyan n’yo munang mag-relax ako

At ‘yung anak ko muna ang mababasa n’yo.

My daughter Jocas Eightria muna reporting

In this corner at ito’y tungkol sa English Queen,

Pero dahil “in this corner” nabanggit na rin,

Meron lang gustong tungkol sa boksing sabihin.

Bakit magmula nung Las Vegas drama sa ring

Ni Manny Pacquiao at nung kalabang maitim,

Dahil sa desisyon marami daw umiling

At marami din sa atin ang nagmagaling.

Kung ‘yung natalo nga ay nakayang tanggapin

Kaya chill na’t maki-relax na lang sa akin,

O kaya’y ikampanya n’yo next time sa boxing —

Pag no knockout… decision daanin sa TEXTING!

My Royal Weekend: A Once-in-a-lifetime Experience

By Jocas de Leon

LONDON — Three weekends ago, I was truly fortunate to have witnessed a historic and momentous occasion for Britain and its monarchy. It was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend, a four-day celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne. As someone who has long watched and liked the British Royal Family, there was certainly no way I was going to miss the opportunity of seeing them and joining in the festivities. Despite the less-than-ideal weather throughout the long weekend, the rain and cold did nothing to dampen spirits. It could even be suggested that the wet and chilly conditions, the umbrellas and the rain boots just made the whole experience much more British. London was simply the city to be in. Hundreds of Union flags were flying high in all major streets and almost every single store window was dressed in a red, white and blue theme. The atmosphere was greatly positive and happy.

Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry during the carriage procession

I first joined the celebrations when I, together with some friends, went down to the River Thames on Sunday, June 3, for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. There, on England’s famous river, more than 1,000 boats sailed down in honor of the Queen. After standing on the banks of the Thames for nearly four hours, the Royal Barge that carried the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, finally passed us by. It was fairly quick and the Royals appeared tiny from our perspective. Nevertheless, it was fun and exciting. (We even got to wave British flags handed to us by OK! magazine!) The pageant was a huge spectacle and we knew that celebrating a monarch’s 60 years in such grand fashion only happens once in a lifetime.

The ultimate highlight of my Jubilee weekend, however, was the Royal Family’s carriage procession to Buckingham Palace and their subsequent balcony appearance on Tuesday, June 5. The balcony wave, in particular, was what I was looking forward to the most. The royal weddings of the past from the recent one of William and Kate to the videos I have watched of the wedding of Charles and Princess Diana have made the palace balcony scenes very iconic and highly anticipated. Again, some friends and I camped out hours before the event. This time, we situated ourselves along The Mall, the road leading to Buckingham Palace. The mood was also happy but a lot more relaxed than during the river pageant. Perhaps, it had to do with the slightly better weather. There were lots of people on their folding chairs eating, reading or looking on their phones for updates. At one point, some of the police officers even supplied a little entertainment when they asked their respective sections of the crowd to compete against each other by doing the Mexican wave and screaming as loudly as possible. 

My most memorable moment while waiting for the procession to arrive was during the thanksgiving service for the Queen at St. Paul’s Cathedral. There were no screens around on The Mall but they broadcasted the service through huge speakers. When the national anthem, God Save the Queen, was sung at the conclusion of the service, as if on cue, the whole Mall audience stood up and began singing along while waving their Union flags proudly. It was at that point I greatly understood just how deeply they respected and adored their Queen. It was thoroughly inspiring to be in the midst of all that emotion.

When the Queen’s horse-drawn open-top carriage traveled past us, the crowds just went crazy. We had a good spot and so was our view. But everything seemed to happen so fast that I don’t even remember seeing Prince Charles and Camilla on the same carriage. I just realized they were there once I looked at the pictures I took. The next carriage was the one carrying William, Kate and Harry. And what a beautiful carriage it was! I just about lost all composure and started waving wildly. Kate was the one on my side of the road so she was the main target of my embarrassing antics.

Shortly after the procession, the police and guards led the estimated one million spectators to the palace gates in preparation for the balcony appearance. The problem for us was that they started to let people in from the back, all the way from the end of The Mall, when we were closer to the front. We had not realized how vast the grounds right outside Buckingham Palace were, however, and we were surprised to find ourselves a convenient place near the palace.

As soon as the Royal Family stepped out onto the balcony, the whole experience reached the level of surreal. The rain poured stronger but the cheers and chants only got louder. God Save the Queen was passionately sung a number of times more. The Queen’s bright smiles signaled a successful and gratifying end to a very beautiful celebration. We all walked out of the palace grounds telling each other how happy and lucky we were, how worth it all the waiting had been. And indeed, it had been an absolutely wonderful day filled with memories I knew I would treasure forever. 

At ‘yan ang aking hija na si Jocas Eightria

Na mahilig sa mga prinsipe’t prinsesa,

At hindi nga sinasadya nung binyagan s’ya

Pinangalan sa kanya pangalan ng reyna.

Ngunit nung malaki-laki na si Jocasta,

Marami nang nalalaman at nababasa,

‘Sang araw bigla na lang akong kinompronta

Dahil pangalang “Jocasta” daw may problema!

Sapagkat ang pangalang reynang ito pala

Ay kay Oedipus daw na ina at asawa!

At ang pinakamatindi’t hindi ma-take n’ya —

Ang monster na sphinx kamag-anak pa niya!

Nyah! Subalit ang sabi ko naman sa kanya

Eh medyo may pagka-sphinx naman s’ya talaga

Dahil nga babae s’yat isang de LEON pa

At hanggang ngayo’y puzzled pa rin akong Dad n’ya.

Dahil hanggang ngayo’y nag-aaral pa rin s’ya,

Kung hindi Amerika ay sa Inglatierra,

Isa s’ya talagang queen… Reyna ng Diploma,

Enigma cum laude nga s’ya… ako ang Suka!

Jocas is currently in London taking up her Masters in Luxury Brand Management at the European Business School London.