The nation is gearing up for a
jam-packed four-day royal extravaganza in honour of
the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This week, people in the UK are
enjoying an extended bank holiday weekend and there are plenty of festivities
to look forward to.
Day
one – Thursday 2 June
The jubilee celebrations begin
with the Trooping the Colour military spectacle. More than 1,500 officers and
soldiers and 350 horses from the Household Division will stage the display on
Horse Guards Parade in central London, with the colour trooped by the 1st
Battalion, Irish Guards.
The royal family will travel
from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to the parade ground in carriages, with
the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess
Royal arriving on horseback.
At 1pm The Queen will
reportedly take the salute from the balcony of Buckingham
Palace rather than ride in a carriage during the procession as she
normally does.
The Queen’s
great-grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and
her two youngest grandchildren, the Wessexes’ children Lady Louise Windsor and
James, Viscount Severn, will all be present.
In the evening, more than
3,000 beacons will be set ablaze across the UK and the Commonwealth as a
tribute to Her Majesty. Sites include the Tower of London, Windsor Great Park,
Hillsborough Castle and the Queen’s estates of Sandringham and Balmoral.
Day
two – Friday 3 June
A traditional service of
thanksgiving will be held by The Archbishop of York at St Paul’s Cathedral in
central London.
There will be no ceremonial
journey to the cathedral and the Queen, if she attends, will enter via a
different entrance to avoid the steep main steps.
Harry, Meghan and Andrew,
are expected to attend and the service will be followed by a Guildhall
reception for members of the royal family.
Day
three – Saturday 4 June
The Princess Royal is expected
to represent the monarch at the Epson Derby, where up to 40 past and present
jockeys who have ridden for the Queen are due to form a guard of honour.
Saturday also marks the first
birthday of Harry and Meghan’s daughter, Lilibet. There is speculation
that the young tot may celebrate her milestone birthday with her namesake
great-grandmother.
In the evening, prepare to be
dazzled by the BBC’s Party at the Palace which will entertain a live crowd of
22,000 people. The star-studded line-up includes the likes of Diana Ross,
Alicia Keys, Nile Rodgers, Andrea Bocelli and Duran Duran. The show will moreover
feature appearances from Sir David Attenborough, Emma Raducanu, David Beckham,
Stephen Fry and Dame Julie Andrews.
Day
four – Sunday 5 June
Millions of people are
expected to take part in street parties, picnics and barbecues with more than
85,000 Big Jubilee Lunches being held across the UK.
As patron of the Big
Lunch, Camilla will join Charles at a flagship feast at The Oval
cricket ground in south London, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex will meet
people creating the “Long Table” down on The Long Walk leading up to Windsor
Castle.
The celebration also coincides
with this year’s “Thank You Day” – originally set up to pay tribute
to those who helped people through the pandemic. Celebrities Ross Kemp, Gareth
Southgate, Prue Leith and Ellie Simmonds have urged people to throw the biggest
thank you party for the Queen.
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Preparations for the pageant are in full swing
To round off the weekend, The
Jubilee Pageant will take to the streets of London in a spectacular £15 million
procession. Stars including Idris Elba and Sir Cliff Richard are set to appear
in open-top buses in a through-the-ages tribute to the culture and music of the
Queen’s 70-year reign. It is hoped the monarch will make a final appearance on
the Palace balcony to witness Ed Sheeran singing the national anthem with a
choir made up of nearly 200 celebrities.
