LONDON (AP) – Two future monarchs to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at a special concert in front of Buckingham Palace on Saturday, the third day of the platinum jubilee extravaganza marking his 70th year on the throne.
Prince Charles and Prince William, the queen’s son and grandson, are scheduled to address a live audience of 22,000 and millions more on television. The event with Alicia Keys and Queen + Adam Lambert will take place in a temporary amphitheater built around the Victoria Memorial outside the palace.
David Beckham and tennis player Emma Raducanu will also attend, while Diana Ross will close the show with her first live performance in the UK in 15 years. The concert will also feature a pre-recorded performance by Elton John.
The 96-year-old monarch is not expected to attend the event outdoors, with rain forecast. The queen has had trouble moving lately, which the palace describes as “episodic mobility issues”, limiting her public appearances in recent months.
The Sovereign chose not to attend the Epsom Derby on Saturday. Instead, she was represented at the prestigious annual horse race by her daughter, Princess Anne, who appeared at the royal box office on Saturday in front of crowds cheering and waving Union flags.
It was the second time in so many days that the queen’s mobility problems deprived the crowd of the opportunity to see her.
On Friday, the Queen skipped a special Thanksgiving service in her honor at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Palace officials said he had experienced “some discomfort” at the previous day’s events.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were among the nearly 50 members of the royal family who came together to honor the absent head of state. It was the couple’s first public appearance in the UK since they retired from royal duties and moved to California two years ago.
In another sign of thawing relationships, royal Twitter accounts wished Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet a happy first birthday. Lilibet turned one year old on Saturday. She and her older brother, Archie, have not yet made an appearance during this trip.
“Wishing Lilibet a very happy first birthday!” Tweeted the royal family’s account.
Meanwhile, other members of the royal family traveled to Wales and Northern Ireland as part of the celebrations across the UK.
William and his wife Kate took two of their three children, 8-year-old Prince George and 7-year-old Princess Charlotte, to Cardiff Castle in Wales before a separate concert at the castle grounds in honor of the Queen.
The Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, visited Northern Ireland for themed parties in the 1950s.
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