MANY would agree that the Queen's Golden Jubilee has been a success, but few of those who waved flags so enthusiastically over the four-day holiday would realise that the organiser of the celebrations lives just around the corner.

Lord Sterling of Plaistow this week spoke to The Herald of his "enormous honour" at being asked to organise the bank holiday events.

The chairman of P&O Princess Cruises has lived locally for 30 years, and was the key figure in making both this year's and 1977's national parties so successful.

Knighted in the mid 1980s, Lord Sterling was made a life peer in 1991. His experience as an organiser of large-scale occasions speaks for itself.

Lord Sterling was the treasurer for the London celebrations committee for the 1977 silver jubilee and was heavily involved in the VE day and VJ day celebrations in 1995.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) he will be guest of honour at Wispers School speech day, when he will talk about the time and effort that went into creating such an historic occasion.

Lord Sterling first became involved in the mammoth task last August, when the previous organiser resigned. The first step was raising the money for the privately funded public party.

Initially, the target was £3.5 million but Lord Sterling eventually agreed to raise between £5 - 6 million so that extra events could be held outside the capital.

Lord Sterling persuaded hundreds of business leaders to make donations ranging from £100 to £500,000.

At the beginning of the year many were predicting that the golden jubilee would be a washout, that the support for the monarchy so evident in 1977, was no longer there.

Lord Sterling however, was clearly never in doubt.

"Only people in what I call the central media were saying that," he said.

"The regional press, closer to the grass roots, never had any doubts, and I never had any doubts."

Nonetheless, Lord Sterling was pleased to see so many people fill out The Mall on Bank Holiday Monday.

"It was a magnificent sight, greater than one thought," he said. "The sight of one million people cheering the Queen was absolutely extraordinary."

Explaining why so many wished to pay tribute to the royal family, Lord Sterling believes the death of the Queen Mother in April may well have had an effect.

"In a strange way the Queen Mother passing her mantle on to the Queen made the public see the royal family in a somewhat different light," he said. "It reminded them of what was important in their lives."

If that patriotic feeling has not changed in 25 years, technology certainly has.

"With these amazing giant screens, and sound systems everyone could see and hear everything," said Lord Sterling. "It was tremendous."

But for him, the biggest single change during the Queen's reign has been the creation of the Commonwealth.

"The Queen is the glue if you like," he said. "There were beacons in every commonwealth country, plus some others. For the sheer size of involvement, I'm told it was the largest organisation in peace time."

All the planning in the world can't prevent the occasional hiccup though, and when smoke started rising from the palace on Monday morning, it had arrived.

Lord Sterling said: "I was outside the palace at the time and someone said to me, 'you must be responsible, anything to keep the publicity going'. Thanks very much!"

Although the fire itself, caused by an electrical fault in one of the palace corridors, was not a major problem, it did have a knock-on effect.

"Everything was working like clockwork until then," said Lord Sterling. "It delayed processions by half an hour, and planes for the fly-past had to be refuelled. These are things you have to deal with."

Lord Sterling puts much of the success of the events down to "a great team of terrific and talented people".

"The unsung heroes are the transport workers, the police and emergency services," he said. "To use a shipping term, if it isn't working down below decks, it certainly won't work above."

As a thank you for those involved, Lord Sterling threw a private party at his home for 300 people.

The absence of a rehearsal also added to the excitement. There was just one chance to get it right. "On the day it's got to work," Lord Sterling said. "That's some of the fun of it, and it gets the old adrenalin going."

Lord Sterling believes that the country as a whole benefited from a true community event that provided problem-free fun for the whole family.

"The police reported that there were only three arrests," he said. "It was a totally festive crowd, with no need for alcohol to enjoy themselves."

It was one of the Queen's wishes that the country be united by the four-day celebrations.

"If at the end of the day when the fun is over, it leaves people with a deeper sense of community, then it has been worth it all."

Less than a month later though, and Lord Sterling has already received thank you letters asking if he would be involved in the ruby jubilee, in ten years' time.

"The organiser of the jubilee beacons asked me if I was going to hang on in for the diamond jubilee!" he said. "But I think I'll give it a rest for a while!"

p Lord Sterling takes the stage at Wispers School tomorrow (Saturday) evening.

Anyone wishing to attend is invited to contact the school's publicity officer Sarah Ward on 01428 643121.