Ed will top the bill at Queen’s Jubilee bash
Pop royalty will join thousands in celebrating monarch’s reign
MUSIC sensation Ed Sheeran will lead 10,000 Brits in a “People’s Pageant” tribute to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this summer.
Buckingham Palace and The Mall will be turned into a carnival featuring giant puppets, chaos causing corgi dolls and a giant 3D wire bust of the monarch.
A billion people around the globe will be able to tune in to the spectacular one-off event, attended by a select few thousand ticket holders already chosen from a ballot.
Thousands more will be involved in staging the spectacle, including the military, more than 6000 volunteers, performers and key workers and 2500 members of the public.
The £15million procession will cover a 3km route echoing the Queen’s Coronation and has been paid exclusively by sponsors to deliver a “once-in-a-lifetime experience, made by the people for the people”, organisers said.
Against a backdrop of the Queen’s London home and surrounding streets in the capital, celebrations on the afternoon of Sunday, June 5 – the last day of a special four-day holiday weekend marking the Queen’s 70 years on the throne – will deliver an extravaganza show beamed to the world.
Highlights will include an aerial artist suspended under a vast helium balloon, known as a heliosphere, bearing the image of the Queen.
Other key moments will be a giant oak tree flanked with maypole dancers, a huge moving wedding cake sounding out Bollywood hits, a towering dragon and three-storey-high beasts.
At one stage, the Queen will be imagined in her younger days with a 20ft puppet of a youthful princess, surrounded by a pack of mischievous puppet corgis, which will create “humorous chaos” along The Mall.
Sheeran will appear on stage to make a tribute to the Queen before leading the crowd in a rendition of the national anthem. The multi-award winning superstar said: “I’m proud to be part of the celebration and it’s going to be a great opportunity to bring everyone together.” Sources have hinted at an appearance by members of the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony at the finale, a moment which could open up the possibility of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attending amid rumours of their involvement.
Despite the Duke of Sussex last week insisting he can’t commit to attending, our sister paper The Mirror revealed how his aides are already making plans for him to travel to London for the celebrations.
The Queen’s 1947 wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died aged 99 last year, will be highlighted as part of the event with a giant four-tier wedding cake baked by acrobatic cooks on the move.
The cake, which will be followed by Bollywood dancers, will house a sound system playing a medley of Bollywood tunes, in tribute to the coming together of people across the UK and Commonwealth.
David Zolkwer, the show’s director, would not give further details, saying organisers want to “hold some surprises back for the day”.
He added: “This is very much a ‘People’s pageant’ – it’s by and for the people.
“It’s about ordinary people coming together from far and wide to do extraordinary things – real people with delightful, authentic stories to tell, taking centre stage in a spectacular performance filled with wonder, warmth, wit and so much humanity.
“It will be about how, through the recollections, experiences and stories we share, we can see how we are all connected – through time, to each other and to the Queen.”