With the Queen Elizabeth’s 70th anniversary as Monarch, Buckingham Palace has unveiled the full programme of events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
The Platinum Jubilee celebrates the Queen being on the throne for 70 years as she was coronated on June 2, 1953.
Celebrations will include the 95-year-old monarch opening her private estates to the public, and some of the world’s biggest stars performing outside Buckingham Palace. An extra bank holiday has been added to the UK's calendar on Friday June 3 so that people can take time to enjoy festivities.
It is not clear which events the Queen will attend or take part in as she was ordered to rest by doctors in October last year following an overnight hospital stay for unspecified preliminary investigations.
The bulk of the Jubilee duties are thought likely to be given to the rest of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
The Queen usually spends the anniversary of her accession privately at Sandringham.
Some of the jubilee celebrations start today as Fortnum & Mason launches the Platinum Pudding Competition - to find a new dish to dedicate to the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. Recipes will be judged by Dame Mary Berry and the Head Chef at Buckingham Palace, Mark Flanagan.
The campaign to plant tens of thousands of trees for the jubilee also continues throughout the planting season.
The Queen’s Green Canopy began in October last year and 60,000 new trees have already been planted across the UK.
From May 12 to 15, more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers are expected to take part in a show in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which will take the audience through history from Elizabeth I to the present day.
More ceremonies are to take place later in the year, starting on Thursday June 2, the first day of the special four-day bank holiday, when the Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) will take place in Horse Guards Parade.
On the same day, 1,500 town and cities across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man will come together to light beacons at the same time. They will also be lit in the capital cities of the 53 other Commonwealth countries at the same time as the principal beacon at Buckingham Palace.
On Friday June 3, a Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral, before the star-studded Platinum Party At The Palace on Saturday June 4.
There will a Platinum Jubilee Pageant when performers, dancers and musicians will tell the story of the Queen’s reign in London including a ‘River Of Hope’ – made up of 200 silk flags along the Mall.
No British Monarch has ever hit the Platinum Jubilee milestone.