The four-day Bank Holiday spectacular revealed: What Queen and country will be doingBy Rebecca English
A spectacular series of events combining grassroot community parties with all the pomp and majesty expected of such a momentous royal celebration are being organised to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next year.
Over a special four-day national holiday, members of the public will be invited into the gardens at Buckingham Palace for a televised concert featuring stars rumoured to include Take That and Katherine Jenkins.
Millions will also be able to watch a 1,000-strong flotilla of boats from around the world sail down the Thames with the Queen at its head in a glittering water pageant designed to showcase the nation’s proud maritime heritage.
Party time: The palace has announced plans for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year
Party time: The palace has announced plans for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year
Community spirit is set to be bolstered with the big Jubilee Lunch, a nationwide event which will encourage as many people as possible to have a meal with their neighbours, be it in the form of a street party, picnic or traditional Sunday roast.
More...
Royal victory: Prince William wins charity polo match... while wife Catherine stays home
Outrage as Iranian-born Quebec politician brands Kate and Wills 'parasites', calling Royal visit to Canada a 'waste of money'
STEPHEN GLOVER: The royal couple have made a glorious start but Freebie Pippa and her family have potential to embarrass the monarchy
Now, where did I put my hat? Scots Guards search for bearskins after photo outside the Palace
A network of 2,012 beacons will also be lit stretching across the Commonwealth, from Tonga to John O’Groats, on places as diverse as the Tower of London, the top of Pen Y Fan Mountain in Wales and the heart of the African bush.
Given the success of April’s royal wedding, the traditional is not forgotten. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by a formal carriage procession through the streets of the capital featuring the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and members of the Royal Family.
Garden party: Members of the public will be invited into Buckingham Palace
Garden party: Members of the public will be invited into Buckingham Palace
Take-That are one of the acts rumoured to be appearing at the special televised concert
Take-That are one of the acts rumoured to be appearing at the special televised concert
A Buckingham Palace spokesman told the Mail: ‘We hope that the range of celebrations over the Diamond Jubilee central weekend will enable anyone who wishes to join in the festivities, to do so.
‘This is an opportunity for people all over the UK, and beyond, to celebrate 60 years of Her Majesty’s reign. This is about communities coming together to mark a very rare and happy milestone.’
The Queen came to the throne on 6 February 1952, at the age of 25, following the sudden death of her father, George V1. Her Coronation did not take place until 2 June 1953, however.
Details of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Weekend 2012
Saturday June 2: Queen attends the Epsom Derby. Details to be arranged but expect bands, salutes and possibly an equine guard of honour to mark the occasion.
Sunday June 3: The Big Jubilee Lunch. Neighbourhoods encouraged to enjoy a meal together whether it be a street party, picnic or even a traditional Sunday roast.
The aim is to encourage as many of the country’s 61 million-strong population as possible to enjoy a few hours of community, friendship and fun.
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. A spectacular flotilla of boats measuring more than 7.5 miles long bedecked in red, white and blue to sail down the Thames led by the Queen in a gold-encrusted royal barge. Expect music, pyrotechnics, pomp and ceremony.
Monday June 4: BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace. Televised concert in the gardens at the palace featuring the best of British and Commonwealth musicians – rock, pop and classical.
Among those tipped to perform are Take That and Catherine Jenkins. Tickets made available through a public ballot later this year.
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons: Unprecedented network of 2,012 beacons to be lit by communities and individuals across the UK, Channel Island, Isle of Man and the Commonwealth.
Starting with Tonga, the beacons will be fired according to precise timings and end with the Queen herself lighting the National Beacon in London.
Tuesday June 5: Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by a Carriage Procession featuring members of the Royal Family through the streets of London.
Event to be televised live with the congregation made up of family, friends, Commonwealth representatives, politicians and representatives of the military and charities the Queen has been involved with.
At the age of 85, she is already the longest living monarch in British history. The only other ruler to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee was her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, in 1897.
Victoria is still the longest serving ruler in British history, however, and the present Queen will have to wait until September 9, 2015 to surpass that record.
The Queen, an avid horse breeder and racer, will begin her Diamond Jubilee celebrations on June 2 next year by attending the Epsom Derby, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday - exactly a year to the day the weekend of events will begin.
The 60th anniversary celebrations will actually be held over four days with the traditional May Bank Holiday moved to Monday, June 4 and an extra day off created on Tuesday, June 5.
Sunday sees the Big Jubilee Lunch which is being organised by the Eden Project, an educational charity based in Cornwall.
The simple aim is to encourage as many of the 61 million people in the UK as possible to have lunch with their neighbours for a few hours of community, friendship and fun.
A Big Lunch can be anything from a few neighbours getting together in the garden, to a full blown party with food, music and decoration that quite literally stops the traffic.
‘It is something the Queen is particularly keen on – it harks back to the days of the old fashioned street parties but with a modern twist,’ said a source.
Also on Sunday will be the Thames Pageant, the most extravagant spectacle staged on the historic waters of the river since the reign of Charles II.
The Queen will sail down the river in a gold-encrusted royal barge at the head of an unprecedented flotilla of up to 1,000 boats, stretching back an estimate 7.5 miles, featuring sailing boats, warships, Maori wakas and East African dhows.
Her Royal Barge will be constructed from a working Thames sailing barge, stripped of its masts and inspired by the state vessels of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The ‘once in a lifetime’ event - complete with fireworks, water cannons and even a floating belfry – will involve more than 30,000 people and see millions of spectators line the banks of the Thames.
Monday’s concert is still in the very early stages of planning but organisers have joked that Queen guitarist Brian May, who infamously played the national anthem from the roof of Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee concert and prompted the monarch to remark he was ‘a little noisy’, is unlikely to make a re-appearance.
‘He’s been there, done that,’ said a source, ‘but we can promise the concert, which will feature the best of both pop and classical artists and big names from around the world, will be amazing.’
Day at the races: The Queen will get to indulge her passion for horse racing with a trip to the Epsom Derby
Day at the races: The Queen will get to indulge her passion for horse racing with a trip to the Epsom Derby
A ballot will be held later in the year for those keen to attend.
On the same day the network of Diamond Jubilee Beacons - 2012 in total - will be lit across the UK and the Commonwealth.
St James’s Palace, Killyleagh Castle in Northern Ireland and the Palace of Holyroodhouse are among the venues already signed up as well as Flash Church of England Primary School in Staffordshire, the highest school in Great Britain (1,526ft [465m] above sea level) which has only ten pupils.
Organiser and Pageant master Bruno Peek said: ‘It’s an opportunity from the ground up to acknowledge and celebrate the Queen for her 60 years of loyal service to this country. ‘
Last, but certainly not least, is the service of Thanksgiving and Carriage Procession on the Tuesday featuring a congregation made up of the Queen’s family and friends; religious, military and charity representatives; and members of her household.
A dedicated Diamond Jubilee website - www.direct.gov.uk/diamondjubilee - was launched today by the Government and will feature regularly updated public information about the royal milestone.
BBC
