Palace reveals Queen’s jubilee line-up

BUCKINGHAM Palace has unveiled the line-up of celebrations to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Street parties, a concert featuring some of the world’s biggest stars and a chance to see the Queen’s homes up close are all included in the programme to mark her 70 years on the throne.

Today a “Platinum Pudding competition” is inviting the public to create a dish to dedicate to the Queen’s reign.

From May 12 to 15 more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers will take part in a 90-minute show taking the Windsor Castle audience through history right from Elizabeth I to present day.

The Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) will take place on June 2, with the colour trooped on Horse Guards Parade by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards and over 1,200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division who will put on a display. Sandringham and Balmoral will also be open for residents and visitors across the Bank Holiday.

The UK will also join the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories to light a beacon to mark the Jubilee. The Principal Beacon will also be lit in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

On June 3 a Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral and the following day there will be a Platinum Party at the Palace where some of the world’s greatest entertainers will perform.

On June 5 the Big Jubilee Lunch will see street parties across the UK and neighbours are expected to join together for food and fun. It will mark the end of the Bank Holiday.

Performers will come together in London to tell the story of the Queen’s reign through a pageant that will include a “River of Hope” section made up of 200 silk flags that will make its way through The Mall, appearing like a moving river.

In July the Royal Collection Trust will hold three displays marking the Queen’s accession to the throne, the Coronation and Jubilees at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.