Queen of the world

A Jubilee for the Commonwealth – and beyond

Recently I took a flight to my native Malaysia to celebrate my mum’s 79th birthday. I knew that, since I am currently living in London, a birthday present that screamed BRITAIN was in order — a ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ notepaper set wrapped in tartan and placed in a Harrods shopping bag, say, or silver tea caddies in the shape of double-decker buses. At one of the tourist shops in Heathrow, my eyes fell on a shelf of bone china Diamond Jubilee plates all emblazoned in gold, many with HRH Elizabeth II’s visage beaming from the centre. I bought one.

On the flight, I fretted — was it really that clever, or diplomatic, to celebrate one elderly woman’s birthday by giving her an object commemorating another old lady’s anniversary? I needn’t have worried; my mother was elated. She beamed at the plate that beamed at her.