The best spot for the nation’s biggest day
HORDES of royal fans gathered along The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace on the eve of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee yesterday.
Laughing, cheering and singing God Save the Queen, crowds swarmed the avenue – a clear sign of the numbers expected to pay tribute to Her Majesty’s 70-year reign over the four-day bank holiday.
A record 12million are due to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at street parties – with 200,000 lunches due to be held this Sunday.
Giant Union Jacks lined The Mall, as pensioners, children and tourists congregated in their hundreds to take photos and soak up the atmosphere.
Heads turned as guards and horses paraded down The Mall rehearsing
‘The magic, the pomp and circumstance’
Trooping the Colour, the Queen’s Birthday Parade, which will take place today.
More than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will set out from Buckingham Palace and move down to Horse Guards Parade.
The parade will close with an RAF flypast, watched by The Queen and members of the Royal Family from the Buckingham Palace balcony. Dozens of royal superfans pitched tents along The Mall to get a good spot. Many have flown in from around the world, including the US and Canada and kept themselves entertained as they waited, taking photos and complimenting one another’s signs and decorations.
A lookalike of the Queen was popular, with many taking a beaming selfie with her. Wearing plastic silver crowns, Sammi Day, 34, her mother Michelle Day, 52, and
Fiona Chappell, 45, all from Basingstoke in Hampshire, raised a toast to the Queen as they sat on camping chairs.
Donna Werner, 70, who is from Connecticut in the US said she and her friend set up their tents on Tuesday morning and are camping out until Sunday night. Her first royal event was the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of
York in 1986. She said: ‘I’ve always been enthralled with the royal family. It’s the magic, the pomp and circumstance.
‘The Queen is loved because she has done everything right. You’re lucky to have such a good mother of your country here.’
Her friend Mary-Jane Willows, 68, a retired charity executive from Cornwall, said she first camped out for the Diamond Jubilee, followed by the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Queen’s 90th birthday.
‘She has given 70 years of her life to serve us, the country,’ she said. ‘That’s what she said at her coronation and she’s done it every second of every day. We’re here to thank her and to celebrate.’
Caroline Harris, 38, who flew in from Northern Ireland, also planned to stay out last night, sitting on camping chairs wrapped in blankets with a friend.
She said: ‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a monarch be on the throne for 70 years.
‘She’s seen us through war. She’s seen us through pandemics. She’s really been at the helm
of the country.’