Street parties, pageant and pop concert – the nation’s Jubilee celebrations in full
Celebrations for the Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee will centre on a festive four-day bank holiday weekend in June.
The royal extravaganza includes a live pop concert at Buckingham Palace, a carnival pageant on the streets of London, Jubilee lunches, and the lighting of beacons across the world.
The unprecedented anniversary, the first time a British monarch has reached a Platinum Jubilee on the throne, falls on Sunday February 6, the date the Queen acceded to the throne on the death of her father George VI in 1952.
But, as has been the custom for Elizabeth II’s past jubilees, official commemorations take place four months later when there is a greater chance of warm, dry weather.
The monarch usually spends her February anniversary, her Accession Day, privately in reflection each year on the Sandringham estate, thinking of her late father, although for milestone jubilees, she is traditionally seen out and about on a public engagement.
On her Golden Jubilee in 2002, she went to a private memorial service, but also opened a Macmillan Centre for cancer patients in King’s Lynn, in memory of George VI who died after suffering from lung cancer.
For the Silver Jubilee in 1977, the Queen was seen at a morning service at the Royal Chapel in Windsor Great Park.
In June, the traditional Trooping the Colour Parade for the Queen’s official birthday is taking place on Horse Guards Parade on Thursday June 2, beginning four days of historic ceremonies.
The same day, more than 1,500 beacons will be lit across the UK and in Commonwealth capital cities, with the principal beacon set aflame in a special ceremony at the Palace.
The late May bank holiday has been moved to the Thursday and an additional bank holiday added on Friday June 3 to create a four-day weekend, and pub opening hours are being extended to 1am.
On the Friday, a service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be staged at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The prestigious Derby is the only Classic in the Flat racing calendar the Queen is yet to win and it would be a dream come true for the monarch to achieve this with a runner in her jubilee year.
In the evening, the BBC Platinum Party at the Palace concert promises to feature some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars.
Organisers said the event, with a privately funded budget of between £10 and £15 million, is expected to be one of the biggest celebratory events held for decades.
Nicholas Coleridge, co-chairman of the pageant, said the whole Jubilee “will be something of a reopening ceremony for the United Kingdom, following a period of uncertainty and hardship, a catalysing moment of unity and fun”.
A trapeze artist suspended underneath a huge balloon printed with an image of the Queen will be among the performers, along with marching military bands and a nod to the monarch’s fondness for corgis and horses.
A specially-written fairy story There Once Is A Queen by renowned author Sir Michael Morpurgo will be brought to life through artists, and a River Of Hope, made up of 200 silk flags designed by school children, will make its way along the Mall.
Meanwhile, more than 200,000 The Big Jubilee Lunches are expected to be staged across the UK.
Stamps, coins, souvenir chinaware and Royal Collection exhibitions will also commemorate the occasion, and 39 towns are vying to win Jubilee city status.
A ‘Superbloom’ field of flowers will surround the Tower of London, with 20 million seeds being planted in the moat in the spring to be ready to bloom from June to September.
From May 12-15, more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers will stage a 90-minute piece of arena theatre called the Platinum Jubilee Celebration in Windsor.
Medals have marked royal jubilees since 1887, the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign.
How much the public will see of the Queen during the celebrations has not yet been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.
The monarch will have, by then, reached her 96th birthday.
She has only been carrying out light duties for more than three months since a secret overnight hospital stay in October for unknown preliminary investigations.
The bulk of the Jubilee duties is likely to fall to the rest of the royal family, in particular the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.