The UK’s four-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70th birthday on the throne conclude on Sunday with a parade in central London and tens of thousands of people are expected to attend street parties. all over the country.
Singer Ed Sheeran and more than 100 “national treasures”, from former football player Gary Lineker to children’s TV doll Basil Brush, will join military bands, artists and dancers in the parade through the capital.
The procession, which will follow a route similar to the one the 96-year-old queen took on her coronation day in 1953, is intended to evoke the different decades of her reign.
For many gathered in central London under a cold gray sky, the initial conversation revolved around the weather.
Emma Woodhouse, a 21-year-old nanny from eastern Norfolk County, had arrived on the grand boulevard leading to Buckingham Palace at 5:30 a.m., holding Union Jack shower caps just in case. “We’re ready to be here, rain or shine.”
There were also a series of “Big Jubilee Luncheons” planned across Britain, with around 16,000 street parties. About 600 of these meetings were being held around the world, including in Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa.
The Queen’s son and heir, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, attended a Jubilee Luncheon at London’s Oval Cricket Ground. Kate, wife of Prince William, and their three young children were filmed baking cakes for lunch in Wales.
The final day of the festivities comes after the 73-year-old Prince Charles paid a personal tribute to his mother in a glittering pop concert outside Buckingham Palace on Saturday night. Read full story
Saturday’s concert was one of several Jubilee events that Elizabeth missed because of “episodic mobility issues” that recently led to her canceling appointments. She has been on the throne longer than any of her predecessors.
“You promised to serve all your life – you continue to deliver. That’s why we’re here,” Charles said in his message to the Queen, who was at her residence at Windsor Castle, outside London.
“You met us and talked to us. You laugh and cry with us, and most importantly, you were there for us, for those 70 years,” Charles added, referring to the Queen as a “mummy.”
The events began with a pre-recorded comic sketch of the monarch having tea with Paddington Bear.
the jubilee
Elizabeth ascended the throne at age 25 on the death of her father, George VI, in 1952, inheriting dominion over a Britain still emerging from the ravages of World War II and with Winston Churchill as prime minister.
In total, there were 14 UK Prime Ministers and 14 US Presidents during his reign; the Berlin Wall rose and fell; Great Britain joined and left the European Union; and their once mighty empire disintegrated, replaced by a Commonwealth of 54 nations.
Elizabeth was instrumental in the creation of the Commonwealth and many regard her success as her greatest achievement.
“You keep making history,” Charles said.
He added that his father Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99 after more than seven decades at the queen’s side, would have enjoyed the show.
The four days of celebrations began on Thursday with a military parade and a Royal Air Force flyover, and continued with a National Thanksgiving Service on Friday.
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Britons believe the monarchy should remain and a recent Ipsos poll found that nine out of 10 respondents support the queen.
Source: CNN Brasil
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