The Trooping the Colour parade, which saw the 96-year-old monarch appear – twice – on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the first time in years, started off Britain's Platinum Jubilee festivities with a traditional swirl of military color, precision, and horsemanship.The queen appeared pleased and well-dressed, clutching a cane and wearing shaded glasses as she stood on the balcony, wearing a pale blue coat dress and hat, holding a cane and wearing shaded glasses.
She appeared first with one of her royal cousins, the Duke of Kent, to take the salute of her troops, and then with her extended family of "working royals" as 70 RAF jets roared overhead in the traditional end of the Trooping parade.
More Platinum Jubilee: 'Knees up' Queen's historic Platinum Jubilee bash arrives amid elation, anxiety – and miles of bunting
Fighter jets flew in formation to create the number '70' in the sky over the palace, acknowledging the queen's unprecedented 70 years on her throne.
Also for the first time, the queen "took the salute" from the balcony as ranks of scarlet-clad mounted and marching British soldiers passed below and huge crowds of people on The Mall shouted and cheered their affection for their long-serving "Platinum Queen."
On the balcony, the queen acknowledged the salute with her cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 86, (both are descendants of King George V), who stood very tall in his military uniform next to the diminutive queen.
Since the death of her husband, Prince Philip, last year, the duke is the senior male royal of the queen's generation and has occasionally stood in for her at official events.
The queen was wearing the same outfit she was wearing in her official Platinum Jubilee portrait photo released Wednesday: A coat and dress in a dusky dove-blue fabric of wool Charmelaine embellished with pearl and diamante trim around the neckline and cascading down the front of the coat, plus a matching hat. The outfit was created by her longtime designer, dresser and close aide, Angela Kelly.
The queen and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, took part in the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon Thursday evening, a lighting installation ceremony involving the Queen’s Green Canopy "Tree of Trees" sculpture, a living sculpture made of 350 trees, according to a press release from Buckingham Palace.
The placement of the sculpture in the beacon lighting is meant to symbolize the royal family's environmentalism advocacy.
The queen led the beacon lighting from Windsor Castle, while Prince William represented his grandmother at the Principal Beacon in central London.
In one photo, the queen stands before a glowing purple podium, while a series of smaller purple lights lie on the lawn in front of her. Nearby, a representative of the Yeoman Warders holds the Commonwealth Globe of Nations atop a royal blue cushion. The globe — made from silver, gold, diamonds and platinum, and surrounded by a crown — is placed on the podium and touched by the queen to signal the beginning of the beacon lighting outside Buckingham Palace.
The lighting sequence travels from Windsor to London, starting with lights along the Quadrangle towards Windsor Castle’s Round Tower, and then traveling up the "Tree of Trees" in London, the press release read.
In another photo, Prince William is pictured outside Buckingham Palace walking with Sir Nicholas Bacon, the chair of the queen’s Green Canopy. The Duke is meeting with Bacon and Thomas Heatherwick, the designer of the "Tree of Trees," to learn about the sculpture's origins. For the second appearance on the balcony, the family group flanking the queen included Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla; Prince William and Duchess Kate and their three children; Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence; and the queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, his wife Countess Sophie and their two teenage children, James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise Windsor.
When the RAF warplanes flew overhead, Little Louis thrilled photographers by protecting his ears and making funny faces.
Also on the balcony were the queen's cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
The queen's second son, Prince Andrew the Duke of York, was absent from the balcony, as were Harry and Meghan and their two children, because they are no longer working royals. Prince Andrew stepped away from public duties amid controversy over his links with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Sussexes gave up front-line royal duties two years ago and moved to California, but did return to London to take a low-key part in the jubilee celebrations.
Andrew, 62, was expected to attend Friday's jubilee Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral but will not after testing positive for COVID-19. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Trooping of the Colour procession, which commemorates the queen's official birthday (her real one being in April), was greatly shortened and confined to Windsor Castle, where she has resided full-time since spring 2020.
So Thursday was a throwback to the days before the pandemic, when the British royalty often demonstrated its unrivaled ability to throw a royal "knees up" party.
The Trooping of the Colour is a much-loved British ritual that began in 1748 with one of the queen's forefathers, George II, to commemorate the monarch's birthday in a month when better weather could be expected.
Another first: Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, the queen's great-grandchildren, travelled in a royal carriage with their mother, Duchess Kate of Cambridge, and their step-grandmother, Duchess Camilla of Cornwall.The queen has taken the salute on her own horse or in a carriage at the Horse Guards parade grounds at the opposite end of The Mall from the palace throughout the majority of her 70-year reign. That was ruled out because of her current "mobility" issues.
Due to mobility concerns, Queen Elizabeth II misses the opening of Parliament for the third occasion in her 70-year reign.
Instead, the queen's son and heir, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, 73, presided over the ceremonies at Horse Guards, flanked by his elder son, Prince William Duke of Cambridge, 39, and the queen's daughter, Princess Anne the Princess Royal, 71, all dressed in ceremonial military uniforms, including towering bearskin hats for the princes.
The event highlighted Prince Charles' growing prominence as Britain's future king, as he has assumed more of the queen's responsibilities when she has needed to recuperate.
Other royal family members, including Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex, were allowed to observe the marching troops from the Major General's Office, which overlooks the parade area. The parade then returned to the palace to salute the queen, marching back down The Mall.
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