Capital marks Jubilee with street parties

THE Capital made the most of the weekend sunshine to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, tables were adorned with Union flag cloths for a picnic held in the grounds, which attracted around 100 people, including families and tourists with packed lunches.

Among the dozens of street parties across Edinburgh was one in Ann Street in Stockbridge, famously known as the Queen Mother’s favourite road.

Legend has it that the Queen Mother would order her chauffeurs to divert and drive slowly along the street so she could admire its Georgian grandeur during visits to Edinburgh. Residents repaid the compliment by celebrating her daughter’s 60 years on the throne.

West Parliament Square on the Royal Mile saw 100 special guests invited to a tea party organised by the city council, with local primary school children, residents of Whitefoord house veterans home and representatives of the business community all sitting down together.

In Murrayfield Avenue, about 400 people attended a street party, which boasted Champagne, cake and a barbecue and residents of Pennywell Road in Muirhouse enjoyed a Diamond Jubilee lunch in the grounds of the Muirhouse Millennium Centre yesterday.

On Saturday, the Queen was given a 21-gun royal salute at Edinburgh Castle.