No Place For “Non-Functioning Royals”: The Buckingham Palace Balcony on Jubilee Day
What are balconies for? Their main purpose, states britannica.com, is to enlarge the living space in a dwelling without a garden or lawn and to provide ventilation. However, it also notes, from classical Rome onwards, the ones on public buildings have been employed as places from which speeches can be made or crowds exhorted.
Papal Balcony, St Peter’s Basilica, Rome.
The British archaeologist, Barry Kemp, cited by the Italian freelance writer Vittoria Traverso on BBC Travel, traces their use even further back, to ancient Egypt, where “palace-balconies” were designed as a “theatrical setting” for leaders to appear before their subjects. In ancient Rome, he points out, the “maenianum” was an open-air platform for emperors and senators to both watch gladiators compete at the Colosseum and to be seen by the proletariat.
Traverso agrees that throughout history, balconies have played a
key role in captivating and inspiring the masses. She refers to
the
Winston Churchill & The Royal Family. – May 8th 1945
moment on May 8th 1945 when Prime Minister Winston Churchill appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, along with King George V1 and his family, to celebrate the end of World War 2. One of the most famous other examplesis the association of the Casa Rosada balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Eva Peron (“Evita”), the wife of President Juan Peron, when she addressed the population from there in 1951.
Eva Peron on the Casa Rosada balcony.
Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra campaigning for the Ecuadorian Presidency.
Nicolae Ceausescu – Bucharest – 21st December 1989.
According to Alan Knight, Professor of Latin American history at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, in the Guardian, when Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, five times President of Ecuador between 1934 and 1972, was told his campaign was out of cash, he replied “No matter. Give me a balcony in each pueblo (community) and I will be President”. It was rather different for the former Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. When he appeared on the Central Committee’s balcony on December 21st 1989, he was greeted by jeers and a barrage of stones and had to flee from the roof by helicopter.
Julietta’s Balcony, Verona, Italy.
As the “balconette.co.uk” website has remarked, it’s now even possible to get 
married on the one at the 13th century Casa di Giulietta in Verona, though this will cost each happy couple at least 700 euros
It’s not of course only leaders or popes (from the loggia at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome) who find balconies convenient for conveying political or religious messages. As the Washingtonian contributor, Daniella Byck, has observed, since the late 20th century, they’ve frequently been the settings, especially in Latin America, for a form of protest known
as “cacerolazo”, which involves loudly banging pots and pans together to show opposition to actions undertaken by the government.
In spring 2021, Turkish feminists used this tactic in response
to the decision of President Erdogan to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention against gender violence, thereby circumventing the restrictions on street demonstrations. On 28th April this year, the Yahoo! News correspondent, Holly Patrick reported that some of Shanghai’s 26 million residents had done likewise from their windows to express their discontent with the city’s strict covid-19 lockdown, despite being instructed by the Chinese government to “control your soul’s desire for freedom”.
Meanwhile, there’s been considerable media speculation regarding exactly who will be joining the Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday 2nd June after the “Trooping The Colour” ceremony which will inaugurate the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Only those members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen will be there, which means the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Duke & Duchess of Sussex will be excluded.
On 10th May, the Newsweek magazine contributor James Crawford-Smith, highlighted a YouGov survey showing that 61% of adults in Britain agree with the decision to ban Prince Harry & Mehgan Markle, with 13% disagreeing and 12% with no opinion.
Some royal experts, the Mirror journalist, Matthew Dresch, commented on 7th May, are nonetheless
Buckingham Palace Balcony – July 16 2012
concerned that the mere presence in the UK of the “famously shy couple” (as portrayed by the acerbic Sunday Times columnist, Camilla Long, on May 8th) with their children could overshadow the events being organised in Her Majesty’s honour. The atmosphere, declared the royal author, Angela Levin on Twitter, will be different with them here: “The focus will be on how they behave, which the Jubilee shouldn’t be about”.
Dresch’s colleague, Dave Burke, confirmed on May 7th that “palace courtiers and enforcers” would prevent the Sussex’s accompanying film crew from Netflix, with whom they reputedly have a £112 million deal, from “exploiting the festivities”. 