The Queen jets off for the Jubilee: Her Majesty arrives at Aberdeen Airport for flight to London

The Queen has today been spotted making her way back to London from Scotland ahead of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The 96-year-old monarch was pictured arriving at Aberdeen Airport this afternoon ahead of a flight back to the capital to take part in the four-day celebration – to mark her 70th year on the throne.

The Queen has spent the last few days at her Scottish home, Balmoral. She has been at the estate – said to be one of her favourite places – since Thursday for a private visit. It is usual for Her Majesty to visit Scotland at this time of year.

It comes as royal superfans have already begun camping out to get a prime spot on The Mall for the Jubilee despite the start of the celebrations with Trooping the Colour not taking place for another two days. 

The four-day celebrations will start on Thursday with a special Trooping of the Colour, followed by a service of Thanksgiving on Friday and her beloved Epsom Derby on Saturday. A special Jubilee Pageant will take place on Sunday through the streets of London.

In a surprise twist, the Queen could also meet her great-granddaughter Lillibet for the first time on Saturday – when she turns one – with Harry and Meghan jetting into London to take part in the four-day celebrations.

John Loughrey and Maria Scott, who are often seen at the front of crowds at major royal events, waved for the cameras from their tents this morning as anticipation builds ahead of the four-day bank holiday weekend.

And the Queen’s Gold State Coach was seen on the streets of London for the first time in 20 years today as members of the Armed Forces carried out a final rehearsal for the Platinum Jubilee Pageant early this morning.

Personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force marched through London from 4.30am as they made final preparations for the event on Sunday which will mark the finale of the four-day weekend.

Troops carrying flags of Commonwealth nations were seen marching down The Mall, while members of the Household Cavalry were photographed in Parliament Square as they prepared for the huge parade.

The Gold State Coach is making its first appearance in 20 years, with moving images of the Queen in 1953 on her Coronation Day set to be played in its windows, making it seem as though the young monarch is riding inside.

The intricately gilded 260-year-old carriage, which is only ever allowed to carry the sovereign, will lead the procession to the sounds of the bells of Westminster Abbey chiming as they did on the day she was anointed.

Using state-of-the-art technology, archive footage of the 27-year-old Queen waving on June 2, 1953, will be beamed on to the remodelled windows of the carriage in a demonstration of how she will be there in spirit.

It is hoped the 96-year-old monarch will appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the Pageant to see a musical finale of Ed Sheeran singing the national anthem with a choir made up of nearly 200 celebrities.

Also today, it emerged that the Palace has asked Pageant planners to avoid ‘over-glorifying or over-egging’ the Queen and her family or involving anything that seems ‘too aggrandising’, in consideration of anti-royalists.

 

Director David Zolkwer said the pageant was intended to ‘not take itself quite so seriously’ and that republicans would be considered alongside ‘strident royalists’ amid concerns ‘the word pageant brings a lot of baggage’.

He said royal aides wanted to avoid making the day just about the Queen, telling the Radio Times: ‘The feedback we’re getting is that if we’re over-glorifying, or over-egging, or if anything looks too aggrandising – that’s what they’re not comfortable with. 

‘What they’re doing is ensuring that every reference to the Queen is appropriate.’

A royal source confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that this was the intention, saying that the Queen and other members of the Royal Family wanted to ensure the Jubilee was a chance for the monarch to ‘thank the public’.

The Gold State Coach, which was built in 1762 and is the third oldest coach in the UK, will be taken outside the Royal Mews for the first time since the Golden Jubilee. 

It is made of giltwood – a thin layer of gold leaf over wood.

The coach is 23 feet long and 12 feet tall, and weighs four tons. 

Because of its weight and suspension, it is only ever used at a walking pace – and it is said to be the most uncomfortable carriage the Queen owns.

Drawn by eight Windsor Grey horses, it will be led by the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry, heralding a riotous celebration of the Queen’s life, her favourite things and the diversity of her reign.

Adrian Evans, the Pageant Master, said: ‘Everywhere you look, in the golden sculptures and painted panels, in the uniforms of the postilions, grooms, footmen, attendants and mounted guards, there is rich tradition and history.

‘It will be a unique spectacle that we are privileged to be opening the Pageant with. 

‘It will set the tone for the very many spectacular sights to come.’

The elaborate coach features above each wheel a massive triton figure in gilded walnut wood to represent the spreading of the news of good government. 

The main body is carved to represent palm trees framing the doors and windows.

It features paintings of Roman gods and goddesses representing human skill and endeavour. 

These include the arts, sciences, virtue, security, and the harvest goddess Ceres setting light to weapons in a sign of peace and prosperity overcoming war.

The front panel includes a figure of Britannia sitting on the banks of the Thames in London, with the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral just visible. 

On the roof is a giltwood carving of the British imperial crown being held by three putti, or cherubs, representing England, Scotland and Ireland.

Some 205 vehicles will appear as part of the parade, including 11 Morris Minors, seven Land Rovers, 20 vintage Minis including one in the shape of an Outspan Orange and seven original James Bond vehicles.

Ice cream vans, JCBs, Del-Boy’s Only Fools And Horses three-wheeled Reliant Regal Supervan III, 15 Sinclair C5s, and seven open-top double-decker buses decorated in images of the decade they represent will also head down The Mall and past the palace. 

Set to be watched by up to a billion people across the globe, more than 10,000 people have been involved in staging the £15million event which will process through the streets in four acts, as the finale of the weekend.

Close to 200 national treasures will take to the stage to serenade the Queen by singing the national anthem at the grand finale of the Platinum Jubilee festivities.

Stars including Sir David Jason, Harry Redknapp, Sir Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw, Felicity Kendal, Joe Wicks and Holly Willoughby will join Ed Sheeran in a mass rendition of God Save The Queen outside Buckingham Palace at the end of the pageant on Sunday.

The monarch is expected to appear on the balcony – the second of her planned appearances on the famous frontage over the weekend – to bring the national commemorations to a close.

Celebrities from theatre, film, television, sport, the sciences, music, business, literature and well-known figures from public life will converge on the pop stage to form a ‘national treasures choir’ to mark the end of the four-day bank holiday weekend.

Actor Jason Watkins, campaigner Baroness Lawrence, singer Marc Almond, presenter Dame Prue Leith, actresses Dame Joan Collins and Dame Sheila Hancock and composer Lord Lloyd-Webber will be among them.

The Royal Marines Band will provide the musical accompaniment, as the crowds of well-wishers gathered in front of the palace and along The Mall are invited to join in the patriotic sing-song.

Some 10,000 people including a cast of 6,000 performers are involved in staging the carnival procession from Horse Guards, along Whitehall to Admiralty Arch, and down The Mall to Buckingham Palace.

Sheeran will also perform his love song Perfect in tribute to the Queen and her beloved late husband the Duke of Edinburgh, with a montage of footage of the couple playing on the screens as he sings.

Up to one billion people across the globe are expected to tune in to watch the parade, with organisers estimating some 100,000 will line the route.

The ambitious £15 million pageant is split into four acts: For Queen and Country with a military parade; The Time of Our Lives progressing through seven decades of culture, music and fashion; Let’s Celebrate telling the story of the Queen’s life in 12 chapters with corgi puppets and carnival creations; and the Happy and Glorious musical spectacle.

Celebrities will travel in decorated open top double decker buses for the decade-by-decade celebrations.

For the 1990s, actor Idris Elba, singer Courtney Love, actress Patsy Kensit, supermodel Erin O’Connor and All Saints singers Natalie and Nicole Appleton will take to the top of one of the vehicles.

Other well-known faces for the eras will include actress siblings Hayley and Juliet Mills, Gloria Hunniford and Sir Cliff on the 1950s bus, Alan Titchmarsh, Basil Brush and Kate Garraway for the 1960s, and Slade’s Noddy Holder and Dynasty actress Stephanie Beacham for the 1970s.

Actor Anthony Head, singer Tony Hadley, children’s presenter Timmy Mallett and sports presenter Gary Lineker will represent the 1980s, Dame Kelly Holmes and Sir Mo Farah will be part of the 2000 crew, and rapper Professor Green and DJ and producer Naughty Boy will join Joe Wicks on the 2010 bus.

Seven celebrated dames – Dame Floella Benjamin, Dame Darcey Bussell, Dame Joan, Dame Lesley ‘Twiggy’ Lawson, Dame Prue, Dame Arlene Foster and Dame Zandra Rhodes – will be driven down The Mall in seven vintage convertible Jaguars.

The dames’ appearances form one of several special segues interspersed throughout the parade.

Characters from seven decades of children’s television, including the four Teletubbies – Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po – the Gruffalo, six Wombles, In The Night Garden’s Iggle Piggle, Wallace & Gromit, Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit and Tiny and Small from The Clangers, and Peppa Pig, George Pig, Daddy Pig and Mummy Pig, will take to a float.

Organisers initially planned for the characters to parade down the route, but arrangements had to be altered due to practical concerns.

Mr Zolkwer, the show’s director, said: ‘We realised that none of them can actually walk. They’re great at hugging and waving but not great at walking 3km.’

One of the Queen’s own Land Rovers will feature in a seven decades of Land Rovers section.

The dark green A444 RYV Land Rover 110 Station V8 Wagon belongs to the monarch and is kept in the Royal Garages at Windsor Castle.

Another – King George VI’s Series 1, which was used at Balmoral until 1966 – was found in a garage many years later by the Prince of Wales and restored with the help of Land Rover.

There will also be the Bronze Green Family Defender, which resides at Gaydon Museum; a 1948 Amsterdam launch car, which is the oldest Land Rover in existence; a vehicle owned by Land Rover founder Spencer Wilks; the final L316 Defender 90 built in 2016; and a new modern blue Defender 90.

Land Rovers were chosen because of their affiliation with the royal family, with the rural-loving Windsors driving a range over the decades, and the Duke of Edinburgh specially designing and commissioning a Land Rover hearse in preparation for his own funeral.

Another segue will focus on JCBs – including one from the year of the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, others manufactured in jubilee years and a new 2022 backhoe powered by hydrogen.

Ten James Bond vehicles used in the 007 movies will also delight the crowds, including the Triumph motorcycle and Land Rover Series III from No Time To Die, an amphibious Lotus Esprit S1 known as Wet Nellie from the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the Aston Martin V8 from 1987’s The Living Daylights.

A peloton of 300 cyclists, riding vintage bikes from across the seven decades of her reign, is to travel down The Mall led by Sir Chris Hoy and cycling golden couple Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny.

Olympic champions Sir Chris, Dame Laura and Sir Jason will be among six ‘hero cyclists’ who race towards Buckingham Palace ready to complete a 360-degree circuit of the Queen Victoria Memorial on Sunday.

The pageant is split into four acts:

• For Queen and Country with a military parade;
• The Time of Our Lives progressing through seven decades of culture, music and fashion;
• Let’s Celebrate telling the story of the Queen’s life in 12 chapters with corgi puppets and carnival creations; and
• Happy and Glorious musical spectacle starring Ed Sheeran and close to 200 celebrities.

It is hoped the Queen will be able to make the balcony appearance, despite facing mobility issues.

It has emerged that she is no longer planning to attend the Epsom Derby on Saturday – one of her favourite events of the year – in order to pace herself for the busy run of national occasions.

The weekend’s celebrations will begin this Thursday with the Trooping the Colour parade, which has marked the official birthday of the British sovereign for 260 years, and will end with the Royal Family on the Buckingham Palace balcony and a spectacular flypast.

Beacons will also be lit through the UK and Commonwealth, with a special ceremony held at Buckingham Palace.

A towering, living sculpture of trees will be lit and projections cast on to the front of Buckingham Palace to highlight the Royal Family’s long history of championing environmental causes.

On Friday, a service of thanksgiving will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral, which the Queen plans to attend.

Arrangements have been tailored for her comfort, however. There will be no ceremonial journey from the palace, while the monarch, who is facing mobility issues, will use a different entrance so she does not have to scale the steep steps. Great Paul, the largest Church bell in the country, will be rung for the service.

It was made in 1882 but fell silent in the 1970s due to a broken mechanism. This is the first time it will have been rung for a royal occasion since it was restored in 2021.

On Saturday, the Queen intends to attend the Epsom Derby, and in the evening attention will turn again to Buckingham Palace for the Platinum Party at the Palace. Stars of stage, screen and pop and rock will perform in front of a crowd of 22,000 people.

On the final day of celebrations, on Sunday, 60,000 Big Jubilee Lunches will be held across the country and the Commonwealth – ranging from world record attempts for the longest street party to simple back garden barbecues – to encourage community-led events.

Final decisions on the Queen’s appearances across the weekend are not likely to be announced until the day they are due, Buckingham Palace said.

How the nation will mark Queen’s 70 years on the throne: Days of joyous Jubilee celebrations will start with birthday parade, see royals visit EVERY corner of UK and end with 200,000 street parties… so how will YOU celebrate?

People across the UK are preparing to mark the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee over the four-day weekend from this Thursday, with a series of major events scheduled – from Trooping the Colour to a special Pageant.

Britons will also be able to celebrate the nation’s longest-reigning monarch with a series of outdoor parties on Sunday, while there will be a televised concert on the BBC from Buckingham Palace the day before.

The Queen is expected to delight crowds with a double appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony – at the start of celebrations after Trooping the Colour on Thursday, and after the Pageant parade finale on Sunday.

The monarch is also hoping to be able attend the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, with her wider family including –  it is expected – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew.

The Queen, 96, is also set to spend time with the Sussexes, who are bringing their children Archie and Lilibet over from the US – and could meet Lili for the first time as she celebrates her first birthday on Saturday.

On Sunday, thousands of people will gather across the country as more than 85,000 Big Jubilee Lunches and street parties are staged in celebration of the Queen’s record-breaking 70 year reign.

Royal Family members will also visit every corner of the UK over the weekend for official engagements – with William and Kate going to Wales; Edward and Sophie travelling to Northern Ireland; and Anne to Scotland. 

Here, MailOnline looks at the programme of events over the four-day bank holiday weekend from Thursday: 

TODAY AND TOMORROW

No official celebrations planned, but hundreds of ongoing events are being held across the UK by museums, art galleries and hotels to mark the Jubilee – with a full list of 652 public events before Thursday available here.

The Tower of London’s Superbloom – 20 million seeds planted in the moat to create a spectacular meadow – opens from Wednesday until September and features a family-friendly slide for visitors to shoot down into the attraction. 

THURSDAY 

Trooping the Colour (from 10am, flypast at 1pm)

The official programme for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee begins with the Trooping the Colour military spectacle this Thursday, which is due to begin at around 10am at Buckingham Palace.

More than 1,500 officers and soldiers and 350 horses from the Household Division will stage the display on Horse Guards Parade in London, with the colour trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards.

Some 400 musicians from 10 military bands and corps of drums will march amid pomp and pageantry.

The Royal Family will travel from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to the parade ground in carriages at about 10.30am, with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal on horseback.

Plans are said to be in place either for the Queen briefly to inspect the troops on the parade ground or from the balcony with the Duke of Kent, or to only appear on the balcony with the royal family for a special flypast afterwards.

If the Queen does delegate her salute duties at Trooping to another family member, it will be the first time she has done so in her 70-year reign.

Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, William and the Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will be on the balcony for the flypast which is due to take place at about 1pm.

The Queen limited the numbers to working royals, meaning the Duke of York and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be there.

But her Cambridge great-grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and her two youngest grandchildren, the Wessexes’ children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, will be present.

A six-minute display by more than 70 aircraft will include the Red Arrows and the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Platinum Jubilee Beacons (from 9.25pm)

On Thursday evening, more than 3,000 beacons will be set ablaze across the UK and the Commonwealth in tribute to the Queen.

The network of flaming tributes will stretch throughout the country, with beacons at sites including the Tower of London, Windsor Great Park, Hillsborough Castle and the Queen’s estates of Sandringham and Balmoral, and on top of the UK’s four highest peaks.

The first beacons will be lit in Tonga and Samoa in the South Pacific, and the final one in the central American country of Belize.

The principal beacon outside the Palace – a 21-metre tall Tree of Trees sculpture for the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative – will be illuminated by a senior member of the royal family, and images will be projected on to the Palace.

FRIDAY 

Service of Thanksgiving (from 11am)

A traditional service of thanksgiving will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London from 11am on Friday.

There will be no ceremonial journey to the cathedral and the Queen, if she attends, will use a different entrance to aid her comfort rather than the steep main steps.

Wider members of the family are expected to be present including possibly Harry, Meghan and Andrew, and the service will be followed by a Guildhall reception for members of the royal family.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the service. The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd Stephen Cottrell, will give the sermon instead.

Justin Welby was diagnosed with mild pneumonia last Thursday and was continuing to work, but after developing symptoms over the weekend he tested for coronavirus.

SATURDAY 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Cardiff Castle to meet performers and crew involved in the special Platinum Jubilee Celebration Concert taking place in the castle grounds later that afternoon, Buckingham Palace has announced.

During their visit, William and Kate will view rehearsals and meet some of the acts taking part in the celebrations, including Bonnie Tyler and Owain Wynn Evans.

Hosted by Aled Jones and Shan Cothi, the concert at Cardiff Castle will feature live performances from some of Wales’ best-known singers and entertainers, alongside choirs, bands and orchestras.

During the extended bank holiday weekend, the Earl and Countess of Wessex will carry out two engagements in Northern Ireland while the Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will visit Edinburgh. 

Epsom Derby (from 4pm)

The Queen is no longer planning to attend the Epsom Derby during her Platinum Jubilee weekend. 

The 96-year-old monarch is said to want to pace herself during her milestone celebrations, with her daughter the Princess Royal representing her at the racecourse instead, The Sunday Times reported.

The Derby on Saturday June 4 was to be a personal highlight for the Queen during the four days of Jubilee festivities.

The head of state, a passionate horse owner and breeder, was due to be greeted on the course with a special guard of honour including up to 40 of her past and present jockeys.

But the newspaper revealed the monarch is now ‘increasingly unlikely’ to head to Epsom. However the Queen will still have a runner – Just Fine, in the penultimate race of the afternoon.

Lilibet’s birthday 

Saturday is also the first birthday of Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, amid speculation the youngster could spend the day with her namesake great-grandmother.

The Sussexes are flying over from the US with Lili, who has never met the Queen in person before, and her older brother Archie.

It could be the first time Harry and Meghan have been seen alongside the Windsor clan since Megxit and since they accused an unnamed senior royal of racism during their controversial Oprah Winfrey interview. 

Party At The Palace (from 7.30pm)

In the evening, the BBC’s Party at the Palace – set on three stages in front of Buckingham Palace – will entertain a live crowd of 22,000 people and a television audience of millions.

The line-up includes Diana Ross, Queen + Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Nile Rodgers, Andrea Bocelli, Duran Duran, Bond composer Hans Zimmer, Ella Eyre, Craig David, Mabel, Elbow and George Ezra.

The show will also feature appearances from stars including Sir David Attenborough, Emma Raducanu, David Beckham, Stephen Fry and Dame Julie Andrews.

Charles and William are preparing to deliver public tributes at the concert to the Queen, who will be watching on television from Windsor.

SUNDAY 

Big Jubilee Lunch

Millions of people are expected to sit down with their neighbours at street parties, picnics and barbecues, with more than 200,000 Big Jubilee Lunches being held across the UK on the Sunday afternoon,

Camilla, patron of the Big Lunch, will join Charles at a flagship feast at The Oval cricket ground in south London, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex will meet people creating the ‘Long Table’ down on The Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle.

The celebration also coincides with this year’s Thank You Day –  originally set up to pay tribute to those who helped people through the pandemic.

Celebrities Ross Kemp, Gareth Southgate, Prue Leith and Ellie Simmonds have urged people to throw the biggest thank you party for the Queen.

The Platinum Pudding, Scotch eggs and fruit platters will feature on a six-metre felt creation by artist Lucy Sparrow which is to be viewed by Charles and Camilla at The Oval. It will be given pride of place in the Grand Entrance of Buckingham Palace later this year.

Members of the local community, 70 volunteers who have been recognised as Platinum Champions through the Royal Voluntary Service’s Platinum Champions Awards, celebrity ambassadors and various charity representatives will be among the guests at the cricket ground.

The royal couple will also present the Platinum Champions with certificates and pins, before cutting a Big Jubilee Lunch cake.

More than 600 international Big Jubilee Lunches are being planned throughout the Commonwealth and beyond – from Canada to Brazil, New Zealand to Japan and South Africa to Switzerland.

Edward and Sophie will join Berkshire residents for their special lunch on the Long Walk, not far from Windsor Castle.

The Long Walk is being reinvented to create ‘the Long Table’ in celebration of the jubilee. This royal pair are also set to meet groups of street performers.

Charles and Camilla will also celebrate with the residents of Albert Square in an EastEnders special. They will be seen attending a Big Lunch in a June 2 episode of the BBC soap.

The Big Lunch is an annual event aimed at celebrating community connections.

Jubilee Pageant (from 2.30pm)

The finale on June 5 is the Jubilee Pageant through the streets of London.

Set to be watched by up to a billion people across the globe, more than 10,000 people have been involved in staging the £15million procession.

Puppet corgis, a giant 3D wire bust of the Queen and the Gold State Coach are just some of the sights set to feature in the 1.8-mile (3km) parade.

Stars including Idris Elba, Sir Cliff Richard, Courtney Love and Slade’s Noddy Holder will take to open-top buses in a through-the-ages tribute to the culture and music of the 70 years of the Queen’s reign.

A peloton of 300 cyclists, riding vintage bikes from across the seven decades of her reign, is to travel down The Mall led by Sir Chris Hoy and cycling golden couple Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny.

Olympic champions Sir Chris, Dame Laura and Sir Jason will be among six ‘hero cyclists’ who race towards Buckingham Palace ready to complete a 360-degree circuit of the Queen Victoria Memorial on Sunday.

Some 205 vehicles will appear as part of the parade, including 11 Morris Minors, seven Land Rovers, 20 vintage Minis including one in the shape of an Outspan Orange and seven original James Bond vehicles.

Ice cream vans, JCBs, Del-Boy’s Only Fools And Horses three-wheeled Reliant Regal Supervan III, 15 Sinclair C5s, and seven open-top double-decker buses decorated in images of the decade they represent will also head down The Mall and past the palace.

It is hoped the monarch will make a final appearance on the Palace balcony to round off the weekend to see a musical finale of Ed Sheeran singing the national anthem with a choir made up of nearly 200 celebrities.

The pageant is split into four acts: 

• For Queen and Country with a military parade; 
• The Time of Our Lives progressing through seven decades of culture, music and fashion; 
• Let’s Celebrate telling the story of the Queen’s life in 12 chapters with corgi puppets and carnival creations; and
• Happy and Glorious musical spectacle starring Ed Sheeran and close to 200 celebrities.