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American Morning

Events Planned Throughout Summer to Celebrate Queen's 50 Years on Throne

Aired June 03, 2002 - 09:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Queen Elizabeth is not letting a small fire at her residence keep her from going right ahead with tonight's golden jubilee rock concert at Buckingham Palace. There are events planned throughout the summer to celebrate the queen's 50 years on the throne. That means plenty of time to cash in on the festivities.

CNN's Richard Quest is back with us now live from the palace with a report on all of this -- good morning, sir.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, good morning, Jack.

Well, a few moments ago I was actually down in the crowd enjoying myself, mixing with the hoi polloi. Unfortunately, the heavens opened. After all, this wouldn't be a British occasion, it wouldn't be a truly royal event, if there wasn't some dreadful weather. And it's now started to rain rather bitterly.

Jack, just about everywhere across London at the moment all you can see is the British flag, and, more importantly, all you can see is the queen's face.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Think of an object, almost any object, and chances are this weekend in Britain you'll find one showing a picture of the queen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're buying plenty of flags. Not so many (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the queen.

QUEST: Just about anything and everything that could be has been turned into a royal souvenir. A chance to cash in on the celebration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the jubilee (UNINTELLIGIBLE). This is silver jubilee. But in actual fact, I've started collecting for the golden jubilee.

QUEST: Now take collecting royal memorabilia to an entirely new level. Margaret, and her house full of more than 7,000 royal souvenirs. What she got? She's got the lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once I started -- once you get the bug it never ends, not really.

QUEST: Margaret spends a great deal of time at Hope and Glory, where the more expensive souvenirs can be found. Mugs from Queen Mary, plates from King Edward, even original Victoriana. It's all here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And is this Beatrice or Eugenee (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's William.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's William.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

QUEST: And it's here you'll get an opinion on that cheap mug you've just bought up the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It depends on rarity, if it's a limited edition. Some mugs were only made in the quantity of 100. So really a mug like that is for life.

QUEST: The royals have always done well in the souvenir stakes. The golden jubilee has pushed them to the premier league.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now the key question, of course, is: What would you prefer, Jack? Would it be a teapot that plays "God Save the Queen," or like Margaret, would you like an egg cup that's got the ears and face of Prince William?

CAFFERTY: You know what my favorite is concerning the queen's golden jubilee? It's the cup that you brought me personally from London. It sits in my office in a place of honor, and I will treasure it -- well, until 10:30 tomorrow, maybe.

QUEST: Jack, I will be out and about in the streets this evening picking up many more quality souvenirs for you.

CAFFERTY: OK. All right. Thank you, Richard. Richard Quest live in London.

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