Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: Lady Louise Windsor dazzles at Trooping the Colour

Lady Louise Windsor was the picture of poise as she joined her parents and younger brother for the Queen’s Birthday Parade to kick off the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. 

The Queen’s granddaughter, 18, looked elegant in a pink floral dress as she took her seat alongside Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex and James, Viscount Severn, 14, for the procession down The Mall. 

The royals travelled from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards parade alongside the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge and her three children, who rode together in a separate carriage. 

Lady Louise looked elegant in a vibrant pink dress with large white floral print and a pale pink jacket. The teenager finished the look with a hat adorned with pale pink ribbons, and a pair of delicate pink earrings. 

The pink ensemble perfectly complemented her mother Sophie’s outfit. The Countess of Wessex opted for a summery pink gingham outfit with matching hat. 

Meanwhile James, 14, looked smart in a black suit and Prince Edward wore military dress uniform for the occasion. 

Despite not yet being old enough to be a senior working member of the royal family, Lady Louise was invited to join in the celebrations alongside her parents and brother. 

Similarly, Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, were invited to accompany their parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

Lady Louise, the second youngest of the Queen’s grandchildren, enjoys a close relationship with Her Majesty and had a particularly special bond with her grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh due to their shared love of carriage driving. 

The teenager often shows off her skills in the sport at royal events, including a recent Platinum Jubilee pageant in Windsor, but today she was in a carriage for the royal procession. 

Three carriages left the forecourt of Buckingham Palace carrying members of the Royal Family down The Mall this morning, with the Duchess of Cornwall riding alongside Kate Middleton and her children in the first carriage.

They were followed in the glorious sunshine by the Earl and Countess of Wessex with their son James, Viscount Severn, and finally the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence in the third carriage.

As the carriage made its way down its route, Lady Louise waved to the crowd and said: ‘Wow, just look at that’ to her family.

Prince Charles, Prince William and Princess Anne rode on horses during the traditional carriage procession which left Buckingham Palace ahead of Trooping the Colour, also known as the Birthday Parade, at the start of festivities. 

Louis sat between his older siblings George and Charlotte in a carriage, with Kate and Camilla sat opposite. The children, who were dressed in a light blue, navy and white colour scheme, waved to the crowds – and at one point Charlotte appeared to push Louis’s hand down, while the Princess squinted in the sunshine as the carriage left. 

Kate Middleton stunned in a £3,000 Alexander McQueen blazer dress today. The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, looked in great spirits as she smiled and waved at adoring crowds. Earlier she was seen riding in a car with Prince William, 39, who sported full military regalia.

Her Royal Highness is a huge fan of the British brand sporting designs on several occasions, most famously to her wedding in 2011.

She added a Philip Treacy hat to the ensemble and paid a sweet tribute to Princess Diana by wearing her late mother in law’s earrings.

The Queen’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards in London is the first official Platinum Jubilee event of the bank holiday weekend, with Her Majesty set to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the RAF flypast at 1pm.

Thousands of people draped in Union Jack flags, party hats and plastic tiaras lined The Mall in the warm sunshine today. Some of those at the front brought camping chairs, having arrived over the past few days to get the best spot, and spirits were high as members of the public chatted and joked with police maintaining the perimeter.

However, police then swooped on four intruders tried to smash through security on The Mall. 

Two of the protesters – who were from Animal Rebellion – were able to sit in the middle of the road as the marching band approached. Officers hauled them out of the way as the musicians walked by them, avoiding them completely.

The Irish Guards were among the first to arrive at a march at Horse Guards Parade this morning in front of the sitting crowds in the bright sunshine, led by their mascot, an Irish Wolfhound called Seamus. 

And as huge crowds descended on the capital to witness the historic weekend, police and park authorities said the areas were full.

The Metropolitan Police said: ‘The viewing areas in central London for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are now full. To avoid the disappointment of not being able to enter the viewing areas please avoid the area.’

And the Royal Parks added: ‘Crowds have flocked to St James’s Park for Trooping the Colour and public viewing areas are now at full capacity. Please do not head to St James’s Park but enjoy the Jubilee celebrations elsewhere.’

The Wessexes will be joined by Meghan Markle, 40, her husband Prince Harry, 37, and senior royal family members to watch the spectacular military event from the Major General’s Office overlooking the Whitehall parade ground. 

The large royal party also includes all grandchildren of the Queen and their spouses. As well as the Sussexes there will be Princess Beatrice and her husband Edo, Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack and Anne’s children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, and their families. 

The group does not include the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge or the Princess Royal. Her Majesty remains at Buckingham Palace where she will take the returning cavalry’s salute from the balcony there. 

Prince Andrew has been entirely cut out of proceedings and will not appear during any part of the day. 

After parade, royals will flank the Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch a special 70-aircraft RAF flypast. 

Prince Andrew and the Sussexes are not invited to the line-up, which is limited to working members of the Royal Family: The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, the Princess Royal and Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra. 

How the nation will celebrate Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee with four days of joyous celebrations starting TODAY with Trooping the Colour before ending with a glorious pageant 

ByMark Duelland James Robinson for MailOnline 

Anticipation is building for the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee with people across the UK preparing to mark Her Majesty’s 70th year on the throne with a four-day weekend of festivities – starting from today.

A series of major events has been scheduled, beginning this morning with Trooping the Colour and ending on Sunday with a special Pageant celebrating the life of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch. 

Outdoor parties will also take place on Sunday as part of the Big Jubilee Lunch, while there will be a televised concert on the BBC from Buckingham Palace the day before. Though celebrations have already started in some places, official events will begin today with a special Trooping the Colour.

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.

The Queen is expected to delight crowds with an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony – at the start of celebrations after Trooping the Colour. It is also expected that she will appear again on the balcony 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 today: 

TODAY 

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.