Four days of festivities for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee began on Thursday with a display of military performances, large crowds and a royal gathering as the nation commemorated the 70th anniversary of the longest monarch in British history with color.
Seventy years after her first salute as sovereign, mobility problems have forced the Queen to break with tradition, allowing the Prince of Wales to greet her on his behalf at the Horse Guard parade. . He was joined by the Duke of Cambridge and the Royal Princess.
The 96-year-old monarch skipped the guard’s physically arduous inspection and instead acknowledged the greeting of the home cavalry regiment returning at the end of the parade from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by Duke of Kent, 86 years.
With sunglasses, he leaned on a new cane, a jubilee gift from the army, making his first official outing,
The Duchess of Cambridge, with eight-year-old Prince George, seven-year-old Princess Charlotte and four-year-old Prince Louis, taking part in her first carriage procession, watched the parade from the offices with views of Horse Guards.
The royal family appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a video
So did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had flown from California with her three-year-old children, Archie, and Lilibet, a year ago on Saturday. They were not included in the carriage procession to Horse Guards Parade, but are expected to attend a Thanksgiving service at St Paul’s on Friday.
There was one blatant absentee: the Duke of York. Stripped of patronage and royal affiliations after settling a U.S. civil lawsuit for sexual assault allegations, he was not to be present, and later turned out to have tested positive for Covid.
The family drama and scandal dictated the line-up on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the RAF’s passage marking the end of the ceremony, without Andrew, Harry or Meghan after the “Megxit” and the accusations of the couple of racial hostility by the royal family.
The crowd in the mall. Photo: Paul Ellis / AFP / Getty Images
Working members of the royal family were only to join the queen on the balcony, he had decreed “after careful consideration.” As the red arrows roared over the palace with red, white, and blue smoke over a lively crowd and waving flags, there were Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, Edward and Sophie, and Anne and her husband, Tim Laurence. united by the lesser-known faces of the Queen’s other working relatives and the children of Cambridge and Wessex.
This weekend, Meghan will attend her first public engagement to the royal family from an awkward Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March 2020. It is speculated that the Queen will meet Lilibet for the first time. once, or even that the Sussex may have their daughter baptized. in Windsor.
The overflight of more than 70 planes, including Apache, Typhoons and Red Arrows helicopters, thundered over a crowded mall, where the crowd had gathered from early in the morning turning it into a sea of red, white and blue. Union flag sellers did quick business outside of nearby subway stations. Cardboard crowns and corgis were popular. A small number of especially devoted royal fans had camped overnight to ensure the best views. St James’s Park was quickly filled before the ceremony, as were other observation areas in central London, as metropolitan police warned later ones not to attend.
This was the first major milestone the queen has set without Prince Philip, who died last year at the age of 99. Color has marked the sovereign’s official birthday for over 260 years and is a basic annual event in the Queen’s Diary.
More than 1,400 soldiers and 250 horses from the British Army House Division took part. On this occasion, the color of the 1st Battalion The Irish Guards was made effective, led by his pet, an Irish wolfhound named Seamus, in front of 7,500 spectators with entrance to Horse Guards Parade and another 7,000 at the Queen Victoria Memorial outside the Palace of Buckingham.
Members of the Home Division participate in the color troop. Photography: Jeff Mitchell / Getty Images
A double pistol salute marked the platinum jubilee and the 69th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation on June 2, 1953.
Among the world leaders who sent her congratulations was Joe Biden, who said the Queen had inspired people with her “selfless devotion and service” in the UK and the Commonwealth for 70 years. Emmanuel Macron presented the Queen with a cavalry horse named Fabulous and said in a video message: “We are grateful for your courage and share the respect and love that the British and the Commonwealth have always shown you.”
Boris Johnson tweeted his congratulations and thanked the Queen for her “unwavering duty and service.” He added, “Long live Queen Elizabeth! God save the queen!”
Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill wrote to the Queen praising her “significant” contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process and recognizing her “public service to the British people”.
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An estimated 10 million people plan to celebrate platinum jubilee over the holiday weekend, according to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, with street parties, lunches, parades and live music events.
As evening falls on Thursday evening, more than 3,000 beacons will be lit in the UK and the Commonwealth in honor of the Queen, who is expected to lead the lighting of the Jubilee’s main lighthouse at a ceremony at Windsor Castle .