Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend begins

Thursday, June 2, 2022

The Queen has said she is “inspired” by the goodwill of the nation as celebrations for Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II begin.  In a Jubilee message, Elizabeth II thanked UK citizens for organising events and said “many happy memories” would be made. There are millions, gearing up for street parties to mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne over the four-day bank holiday weekend.

Royal Celebration Begins

As well as community celebrations across the country, there are a series of official events, starting with Thursday’s Trooping the Colour parade and ending on Sunday with a Jubilee Pageant through London.

The monarch 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.”

Platinum Jubilee Weekend Starts

There are millions of people gathered to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee over a blockbuster four-day bank holiday weekend and hotel lunch. The grand celebrations begin on Thursday with the Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) taking place at Horseguards Parade in London. It will be followed by a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s on Friday, royal attendance at the Derby, Epsom on Saturday and then a Party at the Palace on Saturday night with some of the biggest names in music performing.

The weekend will be rounded off with the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on Sunday on The Mall which will culminate in 150 national treasures, including Ed Sheeran, paying tribute to Her Majesty The Queen.

The big screens broadcasting the events will be placed in The Mall in London, Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens and in Cardiff’s Bute Park. At home, people can watch the events on across the country, and millions will sit down to a Big Jubilee Lunch over the weekend with more than 200,000 local events – including screenings, street parties and lunches – planned.

Across the Commonwealth and the rest of the world, more than 600 Big Jubilee Lunches are planned in more than 80 countries – from Greenland to New Zealand.

There are scores of media from around the world have flocked to London to cover the historic celebrations.

Four Days of Pop-Extravaganza

Day 1

The Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend in Central London begins today with the traditional Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) which will see more than 1,500 soldiers and musicians, around 240 horses and the Irish Guards mascot, Turlough Mor the Irish Wolfhound, take to Horse Guards Parade.

There are around 7,000 ticketed members of the public will watch the ceremony from the stands on Horse Guards Parade as they return for the first time since the pandemic.

Another 7,000 members of the Armed Forces Community invited by the Royal British Legion will watch Trooping the Colour from the seating around the Queen Victoria Memorial. The parade will finish with the traditional RAF flypast and balcony moment. Beacons will be lit throughout the UK and the Commonwealth in the evening.

Day 2

On Friday, a Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s 70-year reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral. The service will include Bible readings, anthems, prayers and congregational hymns to express thanks for Her Majesty’s reign, faith and service. The service will include a new Anthem by Judith Weir, Master of The Queen’s Music, which sets to music words from the third chapter of the Book of Proverbs.

Day 3

On Saturday, music stars including Queen and Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrea Bocelli, Ella Eyre, Craig David and Duran Duran will perform some of their biggest hits. The show, which will take place on a 360-degree stage around the Queen Victoria Memorial, will be closed by the legendary Diana Ross. More than 22,000 people will attend, including more than 7,500 key workers, members of the Armed Forces, volunteers and charities.

Final Day

The Jubilee weekend will come to a close on Sunday with the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. With thousands of performers from across Britain and the Commonwealth, the Pageant will feature a giant dragon puppet the size of a double decker bus, corgis, acrobats, dancers and circus acts. The grand finale will feature 150 ‘national treasures’ including Ed Sheeran who, along with members of the viewing public invited to become part of the performance, will gather and pay tribute to The Queen.

In addition to the events taking place in London, organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with Buckingham Palace, the Government has also extended licensing hours so people can celebrate the Jubilee in pubs and bars across England and Wales.

Eight UK towns granted city status

We all know that to mark the occasion eight UK towns were granted city status. These are Bangor in Northern Ireland, Colchester, Doncaster and Milton Keynes in England, Douglas in the Isle of Man, Dunfermline in Scotland, Stanley in the Falkland Islands and Wrexham in Wales.

The competition for city status has taken place in each of the last three Jubilee years. Previous winners include Chelmsford in England, Lisburn in Northern Ireland and Perth in Scotland. Southampton was also granted lord mayoralty status which entitles the mayor to be known as the lord mayor.

Travel Disruption

The Bank holiday weekend travel has already caught up with huge travel disruption and chaos. As people have planning for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, chao has made after the cancellation of flights and trains. Here is a huge looming in high transport demands, which could cause disruptions. With four days of special events happening across the capital, London will be alive with royal fans and non-fans alike looking to make the most of the break.

From Thursday June 2 to Sunday June 5 travel will likely be affected, with trains running on alternate timetables and crowd-controlling diversion set to be in place. Transport for London (TfL) have confirmed there are no planned line closures on the London Underground, but certain stations will be shut so it’s best to plan ahead to avoid delays.

London Underground

On Friday, June 3, Saturday timetable will be in effect across the Tube and on Saturday, June 4 services will run approximately one hour later to accommodate traffic from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert. The biggest disruptions will come from station closures and strikes.

There are planned changes to station access for the Queen’s Jubilee events on Saturday and Sunday for the following stations:

Charing Cross: closed from 3:00pm on Saturday

Westminster: interchange only from 10:00am on Sunday

St James’s Park: closed from 3:00pm on Saturday and from 1:00pm on Sunday

Hyde Park Corner

There is anexit only from 4:00pm until 9:00pm on Saturday, closed from 9:00pm on Saturday, exit only from 2:00pm until 4:00pm on Sunday, closed from 4:00pm on Sunday

RMT industrial action has been called off for Friday, June 3 but there will be London Underground station staff action strikes on Monday, 6 June. There is also planned strike action every Friday and Saturday night on the Central, Jubilee and Victoria lines between 8:30pm and 4:29am the following morning until Sunday, June 19.

London Rail

On Friday, June 3, a Saturday timetable will be in effect across the London Overground network and on Saturday, June 4 services will run approximately one hour later to accommodate traffic. The Elizabeth line will also be running on Sunday.

Road closures

Most London buses will be running as normal over the Platinum Jubilee weekend, but may be delayed, diverted or stop short of their normal destination due to road closures for the celebrations. Other bus companies may be running a reduced service so please check the relevant websites for the latest updates.

Cycling

The cyclists may also be subject to road closures, so it’s advisable to plan routes ahead of time. There will also be closures on several docking stations for Santander Cycles across the weekend.

@Sources: My London, BBC and UKTourism

« Back to Page

• UK: Britain set for torrential rains and thunderstorms

• UK Bank Holiday traffic delays can threaten travel plan