Your guide to the Queen's Platinum Jubilee
21 April 2022, 12:31 | Updated: 1 June 2022, 18:17
The Queen's Platinum Jubilee is set to take place over four days this weekend - find out what events are taking place to mark the historic occasion.
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The United Kingdom will come together from Thursday, June 2 until Sunday, June 5 to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, with street parties, concerts and parades being just a few of the events on the cards.
The bank holiday shuffle means everyone will get to enjoy the four-day weekend in honour of the Queen and her royal milestone.
Here's everything you need to know about the Platinum Jubilee:
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What is the Queen's Platinum Jubilee?
The Platinum Jubilee will celebrate 70 years since the Queen took her place on the throne.
She is the first British monarch to reach the milestone, with celebrations set to be stepped up to mark the occasion.
When is the Queen's Jubilee?
Despite most celebrations being pencilled in for June, the Platinum Jubilee actually took place on February 6, when she acceded to the throne after George VI's death.
The June celebrations come in line with her coronation, which took place over a year later, on June 2, 1953.
The country is enjoying a four-day bank holiday weekend from June 2-5.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations programme
The monarch is expected to limit her appearances at the Platinum Jubilee to the Trooping the Colour - the parade that kicks off the celebrations on Thursday, June 2 - and a service of celebration at St Paul's Cathedral the next day.
The service at St Paul's Cathedral will be attended by the entire Royal Family including Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who have been banned from the Buckingham Palace balcony 24 hours earlier.
Due to the Queen's ongoing mobility issues, her attendance will not be confirmed until the day itself.
How will the jubilee be celebrated?
Several events are taking place to mark the occasion, with a four-day bank holiday on the way in June.
May 12-15: Platinum Jubilee Celebration - The event will see over 500 horses and 1,000 performers take part in a 90-minute show, including actors, artists, musicians, international military displays, dancers and global equestrian displays.
June 2: The Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) - The colour will be trooped by the First Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1,200 officers.
Soldiers from the Household Division will also put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.
June 2: RAF flypast - The Red Arrows will soar over Buckingham Palace, coinciding with the trooping of the Colour.
June 2: Platinum Jubilee Beacons - Over 1,500 towns and cities across the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Overseas Territories will come together to light beacons, with the main one being lit at Buckingham Palace as part of a special ceremony.
The Queen is to symbolically lead the lighting of the principal beacon from Windsor Castle as part of a dual ceremony with Prince William.
He will be waiting 22 miles away at the Palace, where the beacon centrepiece - a 21-metre Tree of Trees sculpture - will be illuminated in lights on the Queen's command, once she has touched the Commonwealth of Nations Globe - a blue globe, which sits inside a silver crown on a blue and gold cushion which was specially created for the beacons project.
The lighting of beacons across the UK and Commonwealth will follow.
Buildings, bridges and monuments will also be lit up across the four nights to mark the occasion.
June 3: Service of Thanksgiving - A Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen's reign will be held at St Paul's Cathedral. This will start at 11.30am.
June 4: Platinum Party at the Palace - A live concert with some of the world’s biggest stars will take place on the fourth, celebrating key milestones from the Queen's reign.
Queen with Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Hans Zimmer, Craig David, Duran Duran, Andrea Bocelli, Nile Rogers, Sir Rod Stewart and Diana Ross will be among those to perform across three stages.
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June 5: The Big Lunch - Members of the public can register to participate in the Big Lunch, which so far has had 85,000 people sign up to host their own across the country.
Lunches being planned include flagship events in London, at the Eden Project in Cornwall - where the idea originated - and over 200,000 neighbourhood events.
More than 600 Big Lunches are also being planned throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.
June 5: Platinum Jubilee Pageant - A festival is set to take place in London, with artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers uniting to tell the story of The Queen's reign.
One hundred and fifty celebrities will appear on seven open top buses marking the seven decades the monarch has been Queen.
July: Royal Collection Trust - Three displays will be opened to the public at the official royal residences.
They will mark key milestones for the queen: the Accession, the Coronation and the Jubilees.
Portraits of the Queen from the start of her reign will also be on display at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen's private estates - Celebrations will take place at Sandringham and Balmoral for local residents and visitors.
One of the events being screened at Sandringham will be the Platinum Party at the Palace on June 4.
Which royals will be in attendance?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Prince Andrew, who are all no longer working royals, are set to join the Queen at the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral on Friday, June 3.
The 96-year-old monarch's cousins, children and grandchildren are expected to attend the service of thanksgiving.
Prince Andrew will also make a rare public appearance for the first time since his father Prince Philip's memorial in April, The Telegraph reports.
The Royal Family's youngest members, including the Sussexes’ son, Archie, three, and daughter, Lilibet, are not expected to take part.
On the opening day of the celebrations, the Queen will not receive the Trooping the Colour Salute for the first time in her 70-year reign.
Instead, it's been reported the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Princess Anne are set to take her place.
It is still hoped the 96-year-old monarch, who is experiencing “episodic mobility problems”, will attend the military display at Horse Guards Parade.
