Diamond Jubilee: Guide to the weekend of events
The Queen is marking her Diamond Jubilee this year and celebrations reach a peak in early June with a four-day weekend of events, between Saturday 2 and Tuesday 5 June.
The late May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4 June and there is an additional Jubilee bank holiday on 5 June.
You can download a PDF version of this guide (2.74M
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Saturday 2 June - Epsom Derby
The Queen attends the Epsom Derby on its second day. Organisers expect more than 200,000 people to attend the horse-racing event, which normally attracts 135,000 race-goers.
The Queen will visit the paddock and speak to trainers and jockeys. Katherine Jenkins will sing the National Anthem. The day will include a Red Arrows display and a photography exhibition of the Queen. The main race takes place at 16:00 BST.
Sunday 3 June - River Thames Pageant, Big Jubilee Lunch
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant will be one of the highlights of the weekend celebrations. At high water (about 14:00BST) more than 1,000 boats traditional and modern will escort the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh aboard a specially decorated royal barge down the River Thames.
Expect to see lots of red, white and blue on bridges and buildings along the river bank and hear church bells, fireworks, music and foghorns as hundreds of boats from all over the UK and beyond move at a gentle speed of four knots down seven miles of river. All kinds of boats will take part - rowing boats, historic, sailing and motorised boats, kayaks and canoes. It will take 75 minutes for the flotilla to pass any given point.
The floating procession will be interspersed with 10 musical barges carrying choirs and orchestras.
Boats that are too tall to travel under bridges will be moored at St Katharine Docks and along a mile-long stretch from London Bridge to Wapping known as the Avenue of Sail. They will be taking their positions two or three days before the event.
Safety and security is paramount - 5,500 police and 7,000 private stewards will be on duty and about 30,000 people have been security checked. All riverside roads and most bridges are closed to traffic from 07:00 BST until early evening. Lambeth, Westminster and Blackfriars bridges will be open to the public only at both ends and numbers will be restricted. There are expected to be about one million spectators on the river banks, and hundreds of millions watching live TV coverage.
Four viewing areas at Albert Embankment, Battersea Park, Butler's Wharf and Victoria Tower Gardens will be designated for disabled spectators on a first come, first served basis.
Transport for London is urging the public to leave their cars at home and use public transport.
There will be big screens placed along the River Thames route and at two ticket-only family-friendly festivals in Hyde Park and Battersea Park. BBC Big Screens will be transmitting live BBC coverage in 22 locations around the UK.
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This post was modified from its original form on 30 May, 21:58
The pageant route
Also on Sunday, in what is being called the Big Jubilee Lunch, people all over the UK are being encouraged to share lunch with neighbours and friends in street parties or picnics to bring communities together to celebrate the Queen's 60-year reign.
The Big Lunch event was originally launched by The Eden Project in 2009 and aims to improve society by helping people to meet their neighbours and feel part of a wider community.
The organisers are hoping millions of people will take part this year and are working with partners including the Scout Association, Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, Neighbourhood Watch, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, Age UK and Age Cymru, to encourage people to hold their own event.
Monday 4 June - Jubilee Picnic, BBC Concert, Jubilee Beacons
A special concert organised by the BBC and singer Gary Barlow will be held at Buckingham Palace. It will be attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family in the surroundings of the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. Guests, who were granted tickets by ballot, will also be invited to attend a Jubilee picnic in the Buckingham Palace Gardens. The concert will begin at 19:30BST.
Headline acts include classic hits and one-off collaborations from artists including Shirley Bassey, Alfie Boe, Jools Holland, Jessie J, JLS, Elton John, Tom Jones, Lang Lang, Annie Lennox, Madness, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard and Ed Sheeran.
When the concert ends at 22:00BST, more than 4,000 beacons will be lit in the UK and around the world to mark 60 years of the Queen's reign. Beacon lighting takes place between 22:00 and 22:30BST in the UK and 22:00 in other countries. The Queen lights the UK's last beacon - the National Beacon - at about 22:30BST. Then there will be a firework display at Buckingham Palace.
Religious buildings are also being encouraged to light a church tower beacon to mark the occasion. Many communities are organising special events around their beacon lighting, with fireworks and music.
Tuesday 5 June - Service, carriage procession, balcony appearance
The final day of the Diamond Jubilee weekend will be marked by a national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. There will be a special prayer for the Diamond Jubilee. This will be followed by two receptions, a lunch at Westminster Hall and a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, with a balcony appearance and a fly-past.
The Queen and other members of the royal family will attend the Service of Thanksgiving marking the Diamond Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral in the morning. The service, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, will include a special prayer for the Diamond Jubilee. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be taken to a short reception at Mansion House while the rest of the congregation attends a reception at Guildhall.
From Mansion House, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will then travel to Westminster Hall for a Diamond Jubilee lunch hosted by the Livery. They will be joined by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. There are about 700 guests invited representing trades, crafts or professions linked to the different liveries taking part in the event, along with charities, schools and other related organisations. The National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain will perform a selection of music at the lunch.
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The route from Westminster to Buckingham Palace will be lined with thousands of well-wishers as the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family travel in a formalcarriage procession. Three carriages will leave New Palace Yard and process up Whitehall, to Trafalgar Square, through Admiralty Arch and down the Mall, through the Centre Gates at Buckingham Palace. The Queen and Prince Philip will be travelling in the 1902 State Landau, followed by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Personnel from the armed forces will line the procession route and the King's Troop will fire a 60-gun salute during the procession.
After arriving at Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family will appear on the balcony and watch an RAF flypast. Then, in the forecourt, The Queen's Guard will perform a Feu de Joie - a cascade of rifle fire interspersed by the National Anthem.
Thousands of spectators are expected to line the Mall, and ticket-holders will have prime viewing spots at the Queen Victoria memorial outside Buckingham Palace.
Route of the royal carriage procession
Weekend Jubilee festivals
Hyde Park Jubilee Family Festival - 2 June, 3 June
This two-day family festival organised by Sainsbury's is hosted by Myleene Klass and Jon Culshaw. It features live music and entertainment on the main stage and in zones such as the Kids Zone, the Disney Zone, the Parade Ground - featuring the White Helmet Motorcycle Display Team - and The Commonwealth, with Harambee African drummers and Maori Haka dancers.
Great British food - pies, roasts, pastries, fish and chips, jellied eels and cream teas - will be served. Traditional entertainers including Pearly Kings and Queens, marching bands, men on stilts and singing tea ladies will roam the festival. The headline live show is The Magic of Disney in Concert. The main stage also features performances from the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, hosted by Craig Revel Horwood, and excerpts from War Horse.
Battersea Park Festival - Sunday 3 June
Some 90,000 ticket holders can see the pageant from the river bank or big screens in Battersea Park which is hosting a special festival. Curated by Hemingway Design, of Vintage Festival fame, and artist Clare Patey, the event celebrates all things British.
There will be 1950s swing orchestras, a George Formby tribute band and others on the bandstand, a traditional fun fair, competitions, games, storytelling and craft workshops, a tea garden staffed by members of the Women's Institute - with a record-breaking attempt for the tallest cake. An outdoor cinema screen will show Pathé footage from the coronation and significant royal events, and a car boot sale.
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Where to watch/listen
12:00 - 16:30 BST Full coverage on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 live, World Service, BBC Sport Online
Jubilee Pageant - key times
11:30 Vessels muster between Hammersmith and Battersea bridges
14:10 Queen arrives at Chelsea Pier
14:30 Queen boards Royal Barge. Steam train, Princess Elizabeth, whistles a salute from Chelsea Bridge
14:40 Jubilee Bells mark official start of Pageant
14:45 First vessel passes under Albert Bridge
15:00 Royal Barge joins flotilla, church bells ring out
16:15 Queen disembarks at Royal Naval Research Base to watch flotilla pass by
17:30 The last vessel, Symphony, passes Tower Bridge. Pageant ends and boats disperse
All timings in British Summer Time (GMT +1)
Online
BBC News website will have live video and text updates, picture galleries, expert commentary and your views
TV
13:30 - 18:00 BBC One Special programme on Diamond Jubilee Pageant with Huw Edwards, Matt Baker, Sophie Raworth
13:30 - 16:00 BBC News Channel
14:00 - 18:00 BBC World TV live from London
22:55 - 00:05 BBC One Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant Highlights
Radio
12:00 - 18:00 BBC Radio 5 live with Shelagh Fogarty
15:00 - 19:00 BBC Radio 2 live coverage with Graham Norton and Jeremy Vine
19:00 - 21:00 BBC Radio 5 live Commonwealth Special live from Grenada
BBC Big Screens will broadcast the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 22 locations around the UK, from 14:00
All timings in British Summer Time (GMT +1)
Online
BBC News website will broadcast lighting of the beacons
TV
1930 - 2245 BBC One The Diamond Jubilee Concert, with Rob Brydon, Miranda Hart, Lenny Henry, Lee Mack
Radio
14:00 - 16:00 BBC Radio 5 live with Richard Bacon live at Buckingham Palace Jubilee Picnic
17:00 - 19:30 BBC Radio 2 Live from the Palace, showbiz spectacular with Chris Evans ahead of Diamond Jubilee Concert
16:00 - 19:00 BBC Radio 5 live Drive - Live from the Mall
19:30 - 23:00 BBC Radio 2 with Terry Wogan and Jo Whiley
22:00 - 01:00 BBC Radio 5 live Richard Bacon interviews stars of the Jubilee concert, plus live coverage of the lighting of beacons across the UK
19:30- 23:00 BBC World Service with Ros Atkins
BBC Big Screens will broadcast the concert live at 22 locations around the UK, from 19:30
All timings in British Summer Time (GMT +1)
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Where to watch/listen
Online
BBC News website will have live video and text updates, picture galleries, expert commentary and your views
TV
09:00 - 13:00 and 13:30 - 15:45 BBC One Fearne Cotton, Chris Hollins, Sonali Shah, Clare Balding reporting.
10:00 - 12:00 BBC World TV with Dan Damon and Nicholas Witchell
15:45 - 17:30 BBC One Diamond Jubilee Concert highlights
20:30 BBC World TV The Diamond Jubilee: Highlights
22:35 - 00:05 BBC One Diamond Jubilee Weekend Highlights with Huw Edwards and Sophie Raworth
Radio
10:20 BBC Radio 4 Service of thanksgiving, commentary by Nicholas Witchell
10:45 BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC World ServiceService, carriage procession, balcony appearance
18:00 - 19:00 BBC Radio 5 Live The Diamond Jubilee: Highlights
BBC Big Screens will broadcast the service, carriage procession and balcony appearance live in 22 locations around the UK, from 09:15
All timings in British Summer Time (GMT +1)
Tuesday 5 June - key times
10:30 St Pauls service begins
11:30 The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are driven to Mansion House reception
12:45 Livery hosts Diamond Jubilee Lunch at Westminster Hall
14:20 Carriage procession begins
14:40 Royal Family arrives at Buckingham Palace
15:30 Royal Family appears on Palace balcony and watches RAF fly-past; Queen's Guard performs Feu de Joie
All timings in British Summer Time (GMT +1)
Other useful links
- BBC Jubilee broadcasts in detail
- BBC Travel News - London
- BBC Weather
- Transport for London
- Time Out: Best places to watch the pageant
- Thames Jubilee Pageant interactive map
- Sainsbury's Hyde Park Jubilee Festival
- Visit London: Battersea Park Festival
I would love to be there for all the festivities, Linda, wouldn't you? Think you can get some time off so that we can hop on an airplane?
Absolutely would love to be there; if I could afford it I would be meeting you at the airport to hop acorss the pond to visit Ray and all of us would go to the pagaent.
Diamond Jubilee: Final preparations under way
Members of the armed forces and the Household Division were among those rehearsing the carriage procession Video
Union jacks and bunting are being put out across the UK, as final preparations are made for the weekend's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Earlier, a rehearsal of Tuesday's carriage procession between Westminster Hall and Buckingham Palace took place.
And crews of the 1,000-strong flotilla that will escort the royal barge along the Thames on Sunday were briefed.
Events are planned across the UK over the next four days to mark 60 years since the Queen came to the throne.
Last-minute preparations are under way for the many street parties, outdoor concerts and fairs being staged for the royal celebration:
- The Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond marked the start of celebrations with a 21-gun salute in Portsmouth
- The Woodland Trust released a list of 60 new, large woodland areas designed to celebrate the Queen's reign
- Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams issued a video tribute to the Queen, praising her sense of humour
- Final preparations for the Jubilee concert got under way, with a stage constructed on the roof of Buckingham Palace, where pop band Madness will perform their hit Our House
- Services are running on nearly all London Underground lines at the weekend but Transport for London advises people to check before they travel
- The weather forecast is expected to be poor for the official celebrations in central London
Prime Minister David Cameron, who will join the royals for the celebratory events during the weekend, paid tribute to the Queen's "extraordinary energy" and "devotion to her people", in an interview with Sky News.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the weekend's festivities would celebrate "everything that is best about our country" and praised the Queen's "selfless dedication to duty".
Preparations have also been continuing for the BBC's Jubilee concert, which will be held in front of Buckingham Palace in the area surrounding the Queen Victoria Memorial on Monday.
Artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Elton John, Jessie J, JLS and Ed Sheeran are due to perform.
The concert will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC One HD and on BBC Radio 2 in the UK and to millions around the world.
Take That singer Gary Barlow said the concert - which he helped to arrange - would be an "incredible" experience.
Other preparations on Friday have included the mustering at West India Quay, near Canary Wharf, of boats taking part in the Thames Jubilee Pageant.
More than 1,000 vessels of all shapes and sizes will form a flotilla and sail along the Thames from upriver of Battersea Bridge to down river of Tower Bridge on Sunday. More than a million people are expected to line the River Thames for the event.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury has paid tribute to the Queen, who he describes as being "unfailingly supportive and kind".
Rowan Williams, who will step down as Archbishop in December after 10 years, said in a video that during private meetings, he discovered that Her Majesty is "extremely funny and prepared to be teased", and helped him through difficult periods of his own life.
Thames pageant preparations
Samantha Dalton
BBC News
Under the gaze of some of London's biggest skyscrapers, an eclectic collection of boats, ships and kayaks are gathering for what one captain has described as a "uniquely British event".
The noise of chugging engines at West India Dock and the occasional seagull is broken by the excited conversations of the boat crews anticipating Sunday's events.
Those on board are busily attaching a collection of multi-coloured flags, including a special Jubilee ensign, and even touching up the paint work on their largely immaculately turned out boats.
Among them will be the Dunkirk Little Ships - famed for rescuing thousands of troops in World War II. They will hope to bring some of their infamous spirit to the Thames on Sunday.
Boats set to make waves for Queen
Diamond Jubilee: Key events
- The main weekend events to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee include:
- The Queen attends the Epsom Derby
- Katherine Jenkins sings the National Anthem and a Red Arrows display takes place
- The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant - featuring 1,000 boats escorting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh - takes place from 14:00 BST
- The Big Jubilee lunch takes place across the UK
- The BBC's Jubilee concert takes place, featuring performances by Sir Paul McCartney and Madness
- At 22:00 BST, more than 4,000 beacons will be lit around the world to mark 60 years of the Queen's reign. The Queen lights the National Beacon at 22:30 BST
- A national service of thanksgiving takes place at St Paul's Cathedral at 10:30 BST, attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
- A lunch at Westminster Hall and a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace is planned, with a balcony appearance by the royals, and fly-past, at 15:30 BST
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Plus 2 Bank Holidays, it pays to British some times, god know's what's going happen to the Euro-zone
This is so exciting. Checking to see if this will be on any of oiur cable channels. Would love to watch it.
Prince Charles shares archive of Queen in BBC documentary
Ray, this is priceless..love it so much. The Queen is first a "mother" to her own children and it appears it's a job she took seriously and had great fun. Love the above picture. Love the Corgi.
Ray, she is such a gracioius and lovely woman; she has the strength needed to be the Queen and yet the grace to be feminine as well. She has learned the value of not being out in the public eye anymore than required, and has conducted her life with the greatest of decorum. I respect you so much for the example she has given the World.
