Buckingham Palace has unveiled the full line-up of celebrations to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year.
Street parties, a concert with some of the world’s “biggest entertainment stars” and a chance to see the Queen’s homes up close are all part of the plan to mark her 70 years on the throne.
It will culminate in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from 2 to 5 June.
The first event begins on Monday, with a competition to invent a new pudding to celebrate the Queen’s reign.
Finalists will be judged by an expert panel including Dame Mary Berry and Masterchef’s Monica Galetti.
The winning recipe will be made available to the public and the pudding will be enjoyed at Big Jubilee Lunches during the bank holiday weekend.
On 6 February the Queen will become the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking a 70-year reign.
A series of celebrations will take place throughout the year.
As with the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees, the first week in June has been chosen for the celebratory weekend, with the summer offering a better chance of good weather than February.
To create the four-day weekend, the late May Spring Bank Holiday will be moved to 2 June and an additional one-off bank holiday on 3 June created.
It is not clear which events the Queen will attend herself. She was advised by her medical team to rest for several weeks after an overnight hospital stay in October.
The majority of the jubilee duties will likely be given to the rest of the family, including the heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales, alongside his wife the Duchess of Cornwall.
This jubilee will be the Queen’s first without her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April last year.
During the festivities, Sandringham and Balmoral will be open for visitors to enjoy the celebrations across the long weekend in June.
And during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, a River Of Hope – made up of 200 silk flags decorated with images of hope drawn by children – will make its way along the Mall in central London.
As part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, some 60,000 trees have already been planted to mark the year, as people have been encouraged to “plant a tree for the jubilee”.
Source: BBC
