THE jubilee holiday is over, and not only are we back to work this morning, but we are also back to the eurocrisis, which has deepened worryingly while we were celebrating.

But before we allow reality to intrude, let’s draw a few jubilee conclusions.

Firstly, the Queen, at 86, is absolutely remarkable and redoubtable. In any other circumstances, to force someone at her time of life to spend hours by the riverside in the rain and then to get her to walk those cathedral steps unaided would be regarded as elder abuse. She coped admirably.

Secondly, we disagree quite profoundly with our lead letter writer on the page opposite. We have been inundated with people and communities wanting us to report on their celebrations and street parties, and the region has perhaps surprised itself by how much it has covered itself in patriotic bunting and in how far it has gone out of its way to organise commemorative events.

The celebrations have marked more than just a 60-year reign. They have been, as the letter under the picture opposite suggests, about a pride in being British.

It is the rarity of jubilees that makes them special. There will be royal razzmatazz next year connected to the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s Coronation, and it is conceivable that in ten years’ time we will celebrate her platinum jubilee. It is equally conceivable, though, that the next jubilee won’t come around until William has been on the throne for 25 years – a lifetime away.

The coalition government has revived the idea of making Trafalgar Day – October 21 – a national holiday, but rather than celebrate our victory over someone else, shouldn’t we just be celebrating ourselves, as we have done during this extended weekend?

It would be a time of community, when we come together to commemorate our Britishness, to celebrate those aspects of our life – like the monarchy and our heritage – that create our identity and that make us us rather than any other European country with an ailing economy.

A date in early June, when even some octogenarians can withstand the British weather, would be ideal, and if it fell around the time of the Queen’s coronation – June 2 – we could even call it Elizabeth Day.