Žilina, September 9, 2022. For NGO Servare et Manere, trees are a means of expressing many thoughts and remembering important events. In the field of international relations, it is one of the tools of cultural diplomacy. In Žilina, as the only city in Slovakia, Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee tree grows in Carl Gustav Swensson Park. The planting of the tree was initiated by Servare et Manere. Yesterday we heard the sad news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II and therefore in Žilina, a place of worship was created to honour the Queen in this very park near the Queen’s Memorial tree. It is a place associated with Her Late Majesty not only through the jubilee tree, but also through the official auspices of the British Embassy in Bratislava over its planting.

This tree on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee was planted on November 3, 2021, personally by His Excellency Nigel Marcus Baker OBE MVO, the British Ambassador to Slovakia, together with the authors of the Swensson Memorial, Marek Sobola (​Servare et Manere Secretary-General) and Michal Janiga. The Mayor of Žilina Peter Fiabáne also took part in the planting, which was inspired by the official program called “The Queen’s Green Canopy”. It was a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invited people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”. Planting began in October 2021 and continued until March 2022.

The Platinum Jubilee tree of Queen Elizabeth II is a summer oak (Quercus robur), also known as an English oak, and it was not chosen at random. It is primarily a long-lived tree, and the stylized oak also represents the logo of the QGC program. Due to its slender growth and exclusive design, the columnar cultivar ‘Fastigiata’ was chosen. All these facts made planting in Žilina unique and unrepeatable. It was the first tree planted for the Platinum Jubilee in Slovakia. National and local media reported about the worship place dedicated to the memory of the Queen.