Celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, events and initiatives will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June
By Nasir Ahmed
A special extended bank holiday weekend will provide an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate the historic milestone.
On 6th February this year Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.
The four days of celebrations will include public events and community activities, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service. Visit the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s interactive map to find out more about events taking place across the UK.
Thursday 2nd June
Trooping the Colour: The Queen’s Birthday Parade will be held on Thursday 2nd June 2022 starting at 11am. The colour will be trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division will put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade, together with hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses. This annual event has now marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years. During the Queen’s birthday parade A Royal Gun Salute will be fired.
Tickets for seated viewing of Trooping at Horse Guards Parade are now sold out but there is an opportunity for people to view the display as the troops parade to and from Horse Guards Parade as it passes on its journey between Buckingham Palace and the parade ground.
During the ceremony, there will be an opportunity to watch the event via large screens, set up in St James’ Park and many more members of the public will be able to watch the spectacle live on BBC and Sky television, not just in the UK but overseas too. Once the parade has ended and the Royal Procession has returned to Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family’s balcony appearance will happen as in previous years. There will be an impressive Flypast to coincide with the Royal Family’s balcony appearance.
Platinum Jubilee Beacons:
The United Kingdom’s long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations with the lighting of beacons will continue for the Platinum Jubilee.
A beacon chain, once used as a tool for communication, has now become a symbol of unity across towns, borders, countries and continents and is often the central point of focus for any outdoor gathering or celebration. In 1897, beacons were lit to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. In 1977, 2002 and 2012, beacons commemorated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of The Queen, and in 2016 Her Majesty’s 90th birthday. Over 1,500 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.
The principal beacon, involving The Tree of Trees (a 21m high ‘tree’ constructed of 350 smaller trees), will be lit in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace at 9pm.
There are three kinds of beacon events:
Community Beacons – thousands of beacons will be lit by communities, charities and different groups throughout the regions of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.
Commonwealth Beacons – beacons will be lit in all capital cities of the Commonwealth – 54 in total.
Principal Beacon – to be lit on the 2nd of June in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Service of Thanksgiving:
A Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Great Paul, the largest church bell in the country, will be rung for the Service. It was made in 1882 but fell silent in the 1970s due to a broken mechanism. It was restored in 2021 and has been rung on 8 occasions since, but this is the 1st royal occasion it will be rung. The Service of Thanksgiving starts at 11.30am and Great Paul will be rung between 10.50am to 10.55am followed by a peal of bells.
Saturday 4th June
The Derby at Epsom Downs:
Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by Members of the Royal Family, will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs.
Platinum Party at the Palace: Hosts Kirsty Young and Roman Kemp will lead live coverage of the Platinum Party at the Palace and air live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and across the BBC network from 8.00pm to 10.30pm. The celebration will see famous faces from the world of entertainment brought together to perform for a night of musical tributes to celebrate the Jubilee. 22,000 people will attend the event including 10,000 allocated in a public ballot and 5,000 tickets for key workers. And now for the first time, the BBC have released artist visuals of the impressive setting and stage where the acts will perform. The full line-up of acts will be announced by the BBC in the coming weeks.
Sunday 5th June
The Big Jubilee Lunch:
Over 60k people have registered to host Big Jubilee Lunches on the Platinum celebration weekend, with events ranging from world record attempts for the longest street party to back garden BBQ’s and everything in between. Over ten million people across the UK are expected to be joining the celebrations to share friendship, food and fun at Big Jubilee Lunches as part of this nationwide act of community friendship. People across the world are also joining in with over 600 international Big Jubilee Lunches being planned throughout the Commonwealth and beyond – from Canada to Brazil, New Zealand to Japan and South Africa to Switzerland.
The Platinum Jubilee Pageant:
The Gold State Carriage, led by The Sovereign’s Escort, will lead the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, embracing the latest in digital technology to evoke the excitement and majesty of her journey to be crowned 70 years ago.
More details will be provided later and while The Queen won’t personally travel in the regal Gold State Carriage, there will be a fabulous surprise.
The Pageant, which starts at 2.30pm and finishes with a finale at the Queen Victoria Memorial ending at 5pm, will serve as an opportunity to gather and pay tribute to Her Majesty. It will culminate with the singing of the National Anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’ and a gospel choir to the sounds of the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.
The Pageant will bring to life iconic moments from The Queen’s reign as well as showcasing our changing society over the past 70 years. 10,000 people are involved, including the military, over 6,000 volunteers, performers, key workers and 2,500 members of the public.
People from all over the UK and across the Commonwealth are giving their time and creativity to build this event and celebrate this momentous occasion. Communities across the UK will find a connection to the ‘People’s Pageant’.
National treasures and iconic figures from music, film, sport and the arts will take part in the Pageant including much-loved celebrity names, alongside military personnel, key workers and volunteers.
When was the Queen born?
Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926 – the first-born child of King George VI and his wife, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The Queen is officially the oldest UK monarch in history. On December 20, 2007, she overtook a record set by her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
On 6 February 1952, she acceded to the throne after the sudden and untimely death of her father. She was only 25 years old. On 9 September 2015, she became the longest-reigning English monarch in history. Queen Elizabeth will celebrate 70 years on the throne next year, Queen Victoria reigned for 64 years.
When is the Queen’s birthday?
While the Queen celebrated her official birthday on 21 April, Trooping the Colour – the name given to the queen’s public celebratory parade – does not take place until June 12th. In April, she usually celebrates with a relatively private family affair.
For the first time since her reign, the gun salutes did not take place in 2020 as she was keen that there would be no special measures which would go against government coronavirus restrictions. The June parade – which usually attracts thousands of well-wishers to central London – takes place on a Saturday every year, so there is no specific date.
Why does the Queen have two birthdays?
Queen Elizabeth’s birthday parade takes place in June, as Britain has unpredictable weather.
The tradition dates back to the 1700s, when George II in 1748 decided it would be too cold to have the Trooping the Colour parade on his actual birthday – in November. King George decided to combine his birthday celebration with an annual military parade, in June.
