Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated with four-day Bank Holiday weekend on 2-5 June next year

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated with four-day Bank Holiday weekend on 2-5 June next year

Britons will get a special four-day Bank Holiday next summer to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The Palace has unveiled a full itinerary for June 2022 to mark 70 years on the throne for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

A four-day Bank Holiday weekend will run between 2 and 5 June next year, with a series of events reflecting Her Majesty’s time at the helm.

The Queen will be 96 by the time the landmark is reached, making her the first British sovereign to reign for seven decades. She will have reigned for almost seven years longer than Queen Victoria, the previous record holder.

Read More

Why does the Queen have two birthdays? Tradition explained – and when they both are in 2021

The Queen formally ascended the throne on 6 February 1952, when her father George VI died aged 56.

A Bank Holiday on Thursday 2 June next year will mark the start of festivities, with events planned to take place across London. The day off will replace the Bank Holiday that normally falls at the end of May.

The Platinum Jubilee Weekend will start with Trooping the Colour, where more than 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will gather at Buckingham Palace and move down The Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade.

The parade will close with an RAF fly-past, watched by The Queen and members of the Royal family from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Beacons will also be lit across the UK, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories to mark the event, as well as each of the capital cities of the Commonwealth countries for the first time.

An additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June will see a Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign at St Paul’s Cathedral.

On Saturday 4 June next year the Queen and members of the Royal family will attend the Derby at Epsom, before the Platinum Party at the Palace, which will be staged and broadcast by the BBC.

Buckingham Palace said the live concert will “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.

Then on Sunday 5 June, people will be encouraged to arrange street parties to join The Big Jubilee Lunch.

The final event of the weekend will see more than 5,000 people from across the UK and the Commonwealth parading through Buckingham Palace and the surrounding streets as part of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

The Palace 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”.

There are likely to be performances from some of the world’s biggest names. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 saw the River Thames pageant staged alongside a concert featuring Stevie Wonder, Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney.

Buckingham Palace said: “Throughout the year, Her Majesty and members of the Royal family will travel around the country to undertake a variety of engagements to mark this historic occasion culminating with the focal point of the Platinum Jubilee Weekend in June – one year from today.”