LONDON (AP) – Four days of celebrations honouring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne will get underway Thursday with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age.
Formal celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee begin with Trooping the Color, an annual military review that has marked the sovereign’s official birthday since 1760. The Queen is expected to join the working members of her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the event, when 70 aircraft are set to roar overhead.
Members of the Household Division Foot Guards’ bands march back along The mall towards Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s Birthday Parade, the Trooping the Colour, as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, in London on June 2, 2022. – (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Princess Anne, Princess Royal salute during the Trooping the Colour parade at Buckingham Palace (Photo by Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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The jubilee is being commemorated with a four-day holiday weekend. The celebration of Elizabeth’s reign includes a service of thanksgiving Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, a concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday and a pageant staged by thousands of performers drawn from schools and community groups around the country on Sunday afternoon.
The Band of the Welsh Guards pass mambers of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery on their way to the Queen’s Birthday Parade, the Trooping the Colour, as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, on June 2, 2022, in London. Huge crowds converged on central London in bright sunshine on Thursday for the start of four days of public events to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s historic Platinum Jubilee, in what could be the last major public event of her long reign. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Throughout the weekend, neighbourhood organizations and individuals are expected to hold thousands of street parties around the country, repeating a tradition that began with the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 01: Royal supporters get ready to spend the night on the Mall after setting up their tents ahead of the upcoming Jubilee events on June 01, 2022 in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 4, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The 96-year-old Queen is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to reach the milestone of seven decades on the throne. The jubilee is giving many people – even those often indifferent to the monarchy – a chance to reflect on the state of the nation and the huge changes that have taken place during her reign.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 01: Royal supporters get ready to spend the night on the Mall after setting up their tents ahead of the upcoming Jubilee events on June 01, 2022, in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 4, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Former Prime Minister John Major — one of the 14 prime ministers of the Queen’s reign — said the monarch’s stoic presence had helped steer the country over the decades.
“The Queen has represented our better selves for over 70 years,” he told the BBC.
Days before the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations commence over the Bank Holiday acros the UK, a banner showing her face hangs among Chinese lanterns on Garrard Street in the heart of the capital’s Chinatown, on 1st June 2022 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II has been on the UK throne for 70 years, the longest-serving monarch in English history and Union Jack flags can be seen everywhere around the country in the week before the Jubilee weekend. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
In a written jubilee message, the Queen thanked people in Britain and across the Commonwealth involved in organizing the celebrations. For many, the occasion is the first opportunity for a big bash since the start of the coronavirus pandemic more than two years ago.
“I know that many happy memories will be created at these festive occasions,” Elizabeth said.
“I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm,” she said.
Royal Air Force personnel prepare for their role in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire. Picture date: Wednesday June 1, 2022. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)
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