Diamond Jubilee: Royal diary fully booked up with events

By EMMA COWING
Published on 03/06/2012 00:00

A rundown of the Diamond Jubilee events taking place over the rest of the weekend

TODAY

A flotilla of 1,000 boats will sail up the River Thames. The Queen, Prince Philip, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will board the Spirit of Chartwell at Cadogan Pier around 2.30pm and disembark at Tower Bridge. Other members of the Royal Family will also travel along the river on various boats. The event is expected to finish at about 6pm.

There will be about 7,000 street parties and local celebrations across the country including the Big Lunch, where people are encouraged to bring picnics and share food with their neighbours.

TOMORROW

Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace hosted by the BBC at 7.30pm. It has been organised by Gary Barlow with leading talent from the world of music including Shirley Bassey, Jessie J, Sir Elton John, JLS, Tom Jones, Annie Lennox, Madness, Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard, Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams and Stevie Wonder.

Lighting of the Beacons. The Queen will light the first beacon at Buckingham Palace at about 10.30pm. Then other towns across the country and across the world will follow with more than 2,000 beacons due to be lit in all. They will include one on Britain’s most northern island, Unst in Shetland, where a beacon has been lit every year for the jubilee since the Queen’s coronation.

TUESDAY

Ceremonial Day. The Royal Family will attend a Thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by two receptions, a lunch at Westminster Hall and a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.

After a 60-gun salute at Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family will then appear on the balcony and watch an RAF flypast and a Feu de Joie, a cascade of rifle fire by the Queen’s Guard, to signal the end of the celebrations.

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  “IT’S very important to us that this is about the monarchy,” declared Edinburgh resident Carol Sutherland, sipping a Pimm’s beneath a string of Union flag bunting. “It’s not just an excuse for a party.”

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