On Friday,June 3 a Service of Thanksgiving will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral,then on Saturday,there’ll be a Platinum Party at the palace,staged and broadcast by the BBC. The Palace said the live concert “will bring together some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars to celebrate the most significant and joyous moments from the Queen’s seven-decade reign”.
UK residents will be invited to apply to attend via a ballot.
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On Sunday,June 5,the public will be encouraged to arrange street parties for The Big Jubilee Lunch,before the final event of the weekend,the Platinum Jubilee Pageant,featuring more than 5000 people from the UK and Commonwealth,against the backdrop of the palace.
Officials said it will “combine street arts,theatre,music,circus,carnival and costume and celebrate the service of Her Majesty’s reign,as well as honouring the collective service of people and communities across the country”.
The celebrations will follow a similar format to the Diamond Jubilee weekend 10 years ago,but will be slightly scaled back to take account of the fact that the Queen will be 96 by then.
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“There has been some slowing down for several years,but she is still very engaged,” reported BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell after the announcement.
Such elaborate events require months of planning and the announcement provides a glimmer of positivity after the death of Prince Philip,the Queen’s husband of 73 years,the COVID pandemic and a string of unsettling news fromPrince Harry and Meghan’s debut on Oprah and damming revelations about theBBC’s interview with Princess Diana,to questions aboutPrince Andrew’s friendship with American paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
As the details of next year’s jubilee were announced,theGuardian newspaper reported that “the Queen’s courtiers had banned “coloured immigrants or foreigners” from serving in clerical roles in the royal household until at least the late 1960s,according to newly discovered documents that will reignite the debate over the British royal family and race”.