LONDON (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Saturday and watch a pop concert that started with the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear.
In a short video, the queen revealed that she kept the Bear’s favourite – a marmalade sandwich – inside her ever-present handbag. She then started tapping along to the tune of the Queen rock anthem “We Will Rock You”, which opened the show.
A host of performers will appear on stage, including Alicia Keys, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart, before the queen’s son and heir Prince Charles, and her grandson Prince William, pay tribute to the record-breaking monarch following her 70 years on the throne.
By early evening, tens of thousands of people had gathered on the Mall, the grand boulevard that runs up to the palace, and in a nearby park to watch the concert on big screens, while those with tickets surrounded the stage on a warm evening.
The opening video between the queen and the fictional character from children’s literature had echoes of 2012 when she appeared with Britain’s most famous fictional spy James Bond in a video for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
The monarch was not present at Saturday’s concert due to the “episodic mobility problems” that have caused her to cancel a number of engagements recently.
Andrew Singleton, a 56-year-old window fitter from northern England who was in the queue for the concert, said the Jubilee had helped to bring the country together.
“People have travelled from as far as America to actually come here and just enjoy the celebrations,” he said.
Earlier in the day the queen also missed the Epsom Derby horse race.
Her daughter Princess Anne, who competed in the three-day equestrian event in the 1976 Olympics, stood in for her mother, who has rarely missed the race during her record-breaking reign and watched on television from her Windsor Castle home.
LILIBET’S BIRTHDAY
Four days of celebrations to mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne began with a military parade, a Royal Air Force flypast, and the lighting of beacons across Britain and the world, with tens of thousands of people joining the festivities
A sideshow to the main celebrations has been Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan making their first public appearance together in Britain since quitting official duties to move to Los Angeles two years ago, during which time their relationship with other royals has become strained.
A sideshow to the main celebrations has been Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan making their first public appearance together in Britain since quitting official duties to move to Los Angeles two years ago, during which time their relationship with other royals has become strained.
