The Platinum Jubilee celebrations conclude on Sunday (5 June) with a colorful street parade that royal revelers are hoping will be crowned by an appearance by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. On Sunday, millions will gather for patriotic street parties, picnics and barbecues, with more than 85,000 Big Jubilee Lunches taking place across the UK.
The Duchess of Cornwall, patron of the Big Lunch, will join Charles at a flagship party at The Oval Cricket Ground in south London, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex will meet people down the Long Walk who are creating the ‘Long Table’ after Windsor Castle.
Some 10,000 people, including a cast of 6,000 performers, are involved in staging the 3km carnival procession from Horse Guards along Whitehall to Admiralty Arch and down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. The ambitious £15million pageant is divided into four acts: For Queen and Country, with a military parade; The time of our lives through seven decades of culture, music and fashion; Let’s Celebrate tells the story of the Queen’s life in 12 chapters with corgi dolls and carnival creations; and the musical spectacle Happy and Glorious.
Celebrities travel in decorated, open-top, double-decker buses to the celebrations, which are celebrated decade after decade. Sights include the golden state carriage, which will feature archival footage of the Queen in the windows, giving the impression that the monarch is inside the carriage.
A peloton of 300 cyclists riding vintage bikes dating back to seven decades of the Queen’s reign will cruise down The Mall, led by Sir Chris Hoy and cycling golden couple Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny.
Nearly 200 national treasures will take the stage to serenade the Queen by singing the national anthem at the grand finale of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Stars including Sir David Jason, Harry Redknapp, Sir Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw, Felicity Kendal, Joe Wicks and Holly Willoughby will join Ed Sheeran for a mass performance of God Save The Queen outside Buckingham Palace at the end of the pageant.
It is hoped that to wrap up the weekend, the monarch will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and see celebrities sing the national anthem.
The monarch received affectionate tributes from the Prince of Wales and national figures during Saturday night’s Platinum Party at the Palace, which saw Sir Rod Stewart, Diana Ross and Duran Duran perform in front of thousands.
And in a comic skit that wowed the nation, the Queen sipped tea with Paddington Bear and revealed that, like the furry character, she likes a jam sandwich. In his personal tribute, Charles spoke movingly of the Queen, calling her “Mummy” and in a speech to thousands of spectators at The Mall, describing how “they laugh with us and cry with us and most importantly were there for us…”.
