PLATINUM JUBILEE

To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, events and initiatives will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from 2–5 June. The bank holiday will provide an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate the historic milestone.

The four days will include The Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) on 2 June where over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will come together in the traditional Parade to mark The Queen's official birthday, usually held on the second Saturday in June, closing with the traditional RAF fly-past watched by The Queen and Members of the Royal Family from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Over 1,500 Platinum Jubilee beacons will also be lit on 2 June throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories. And for the first time, beacons will also be lit in each of the capital cities of the Commonwealth countries to celebrate.

Other events include a Service of Thanksgiving on 3 June at St Paul’s Cathedral; and the Platinum Party at the Palace on 4 June where the BBC will stage and broadcast a special live concert from Buckingham Palace bringing together some of the world’s big entertainment stars to celebrate the most significant moments from The Queen’s seven-decade reign.

Then there is the Big Jubilee Lunch on 5 June where people will celebrate with street parties and barbecues, encouraging communities to celebrate their connections and get to know each other a little bit better; and a Platinum Jubilee Pageant in London on 5 June where artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers will unite to tell the story of The Queen’s 70 year reign in an awe-inspiring festival of creativity.

In addition, the Queen’s Green Canopy project will see the planting of large, celebration trees, majestic avenues of trees, urban planting, and expansive new forests that will benefit future generations.

The Platinum Jubilee

This month is a significant landmark for The Queen because on 6 February she becomes the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. We look back on her visits to Bath in 1945 and 1973 and look forward to the planned Jubilee celebrations

We celebrate the Platinum Jubilee this month by remembering the visits to Bath by The Queen, who came to the city as Princess Elizabeth on the occasion of the stand-down of the Women’s Land Army in October 1945 (see image above). She took a salute from the Women’s Land Army outside the Guildhall, went on walkabout in the High Street and sampled the water in the Pump Room with Mayor Clements. The Queen and Prince Philip visited the city again in August 1973 (see image top left) to commemorate 1,000 years since the first king of all England, King Edgar, was crowned in Bath Abbey –on this occasion they went on a walkabout between the Guildhall and the Abbey before a reception in the Pump Room. The streets were filled with thousands of Bathonians eager to witness this historic occasion.