Fit for a queen? The quirkiest Jubilee tributes

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a bit of a blowout planned this weekend. Today (2 June), it is 70 years since Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, meaning that she is about to become the first monarch of these parts ever to celebrate their Platinum Jubilee. Up and down the country, each and every one of the Queen’s loyal and adoring subjects have been stringing up bunting, sticking cardboard masks on homemade effigies in their gardens and generally preparing to mark this singular milestone in the august and dignified manner appropriate to it – each and every one.

Well, perhaps not everyone. In the spirit of public service, your correspondent has gathered together some of the odder tributes that have caught our eye in recent days…

Perhaps inevitably, Marks and Spencer have put out a Jubilee Connie the Caterpillar cake, complete with tiara and corgi sidekick….

NEW CATERPILLAR ALERT! Just in time for the Jubilee, @marksandspencer have launched a super cute chocolatey treat!
Connie has been given the royal treatment with a makeover fit for a Queen, along with her corgi​ pal who is adorned with a Union Jack cape! 🇬🇧👑 pic.twitter.com/FSbD2szZvE

— Quedam Centre Yeovil (@QuedamCentre) May 25, 2022

…and ‘it’s naturally about time,’ says Barbie’s PR team, ‘that Barbie pay homage to Britain’s longest-serving monarch with her very own Barbie doll.’

Drum roll please🥁 a very royal👑 visitor has finally arrived at Hamleys! Head over to our Facebook and Instagram for your chance to get your hands on the SOLD OUT Barbie Signature Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Doll👑 #competition T's & C's here: https://t.co/ZTJsYjpNh4 pic.twitter.com/cSqlQOA972

— HamleysOfficial (@HamleysOfficial) May 27, 2022

English Heritage has put on some light entertainment in the form of eight portraits of the Queen projected on to the dolmens of Stonehenge……

Our spellbinding homage to Her Majesty The #Queen! 👑
We've projected eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth II onto Stonehenge in celebration of the #PlatinumJubilee. pic.twitter.com/vn5vkGHJGt

— Stonehenge (@EH_Stonehenge) May 30, 2022

…while London HQ has arranged a trail of 19 gigantic (and in some cases, fluorescent) corgis dotted around the city. ‘We are looking forward to welcoming corgi-hunters,’ says the retail operations director at the property developer Landsec, which has sponsored the statues.

Photo: London HQ

Not wanting to be outdone, however, is the official carnival pageant on Sunday, which features a double-decker-bus-sized dragon, a 20ft-high puppet of Lady Godiva leading a small army of corgis and swans. Waiting at the end – who else? – will be Ed Sheeran, who will sing his love-song ‘Perfect’, which contains such entirely apposite sentiments as ‘I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know / She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I’ll share her home.’ Stiff upper lip be damned – Rakewell is quite sure there will not be a dry eye in the house.