Saskatoon store brings Platinum Jubilee to the prairies

With thousands of events celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne in England, a British store owner in Saskatchewan wanted to bring a taste of the Platinum Jubilee across the pond.

Commemorative plates, coins, teaspoons, tea towels and shopping bags in honour of the jubilee are on display and available for purchase at Churchill’s British Cafe in Saskatoon.

Proprietor Tony Badger is originally from the northeast of Britain, but has lived in Saskatoon since 2003. He opened the shop in 2011.

Badger said he’s been glad to watch the events happening in England over the past days.

“I guess there’s a lot of celebrations for Her Majesty for her 70th,” Badger said.

Commemorative plates and teaspoons are among the items Badger is selling at his shop in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

He and his family have been watching the royal happenings on British news services. To do their part, Badger said they had special commemorative memorabilia shipped all the way from England to their shop for customers.

Badger said his favourite is the collector’s plate. He said some customers stopped by to ensure he hadn’t put price tags on the plates, which could leave a mark.

“The box hasn’t been touched by anything,” Badger said, noting the plates are boxed, clean and in “pristine” condition for collectors.

The shop owner placed his order for the merchandise in September, and it finally arrived in April. Badger said the memorabilia has been very popular.

“We’re lucky we were able to reorder on a couple things,” he said. “The response has been so great.”

Badger said he’s also been serving a cream tea. A cream tea, Badger pointed out, is not the same as an afternoon tea, which would include finger sandwiches and savouries.

He said celebrating such a royal milestone is very different in Canada than in Britain.

“The average person, if you walked down Second Avenue downtown, would be completely unaware, whereas everywhere throughout Britain is celebrating,” he explained.

Badger said it’s unfortunate some of Friday’s events were cancelled due to how the Queen has been feeling but, he noted, she is a remarkable 96 years old.

“Seventy years (of) service can take its wear and tear on anybody,” he said.