Buckingham Palace announces series of events for 2 to 5 June 2022.
A four-day bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will include a concert of world-class stars and a street pageant on The Mall, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The Queen, 95, will become the first British monarch to reign for 70 years on the anniversary of her accession in February, beginning a year of festivities throughout the UK and the Commonwealth. The Queen ascended to the throne on 6 February 1952 when her father George VI died aged 56.
On 2 June 2022, an extra bank holiday will mark the start of the main event, when four days of celebrations in and around Buckingham Palace will begin. The Platinum Jubilee Weekend will start with Trooping the Colour, which marks the Queen’s official birthday, when more than 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will gather at the Palace and move down The Mall to Horse Guard's Parade, joined by Members of the Royal family on horseback and in carriages.
The Parade will close with an RAF fly-past, watched by The Queen and Members of the Royal family from the Buckingham Palace balcony. On the same day beacons will be lit throughout the UK, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories, and for the first time beacons will also be lit in each of the capital cities of the Commonwealth countries.
On Friday, 3 June, a Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral, then on Saturday, 4 June 4, the Queen and members of her family will attend the Derby at Epsom, before the Platinum Party at the Palace, which will be staged and broadcast by the BBC.
Buckingham Palace said the live concert will “will bring together some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars to celebrate the most significant and joyous moments from the Queen’s seven decade reign”. Members of the public will be invited to apply to attend via a ballot for UK residents.
Then on Sunday, 5 June, people will be encouraged to arrange street parties to join The Big Jubilee Lunch, before the final event of the weekend, the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, featuring more than 5,000 people from across the UK and the Commonwealth, against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace and the surrounding streets.
The Palace said it will “combine street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival and costume and celebrate the service of Her Majesty’s reign, as well as honouring the collective service of people and communities across the country”.
The celebrations will follow a similar format to the Diamond Jubilee weekend ten years ago, but will be slightly scaled back to take account of the fact that the Queen will be 96 by then.
Today's OGN Sunday Magazine articles:
What3Words: App gives anywhere and everywhere an address. We don't mean your house or anything as mundane as that.
Passamaquoddy: Native American tribe purchases Pine Island - the latest successful ‘land back’ for indigenous people in the US.
Boom: United Airlines to buy supersonic jets that will halve current flight times. The jets will be powered by 100 percent sustainable fuel.
EU fires starting gun: In the pursuit of the world's biggest companies - such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google - to pay their fair share of taxes in the jurisdictions in which they operate.