The Queen’s platinum jubilee will ‘reopen’ the UK, organisers say

The streets of London will be filled with dancers, trapeze artists, marching bands, and live theatre performances

The Queen during her Diamond Jubilee tour (Getty Images)

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next summer will be “somewhat of a reopening ceremony for the UK”, the event’s organisers have said.

In 2022, the Queen will celebrate her 70^th year as monarch, the longest reign in British history. To mark the occasion, a four-day public holiday, from 2 June to 5 June has been announced.

Details of a “Platinum Pageant”, which will tell the story of the Queen’s reign through every decade, has been confirmed for the last day of celebrations.

The pageant will feature more than 5,000 people and will combine street art, theatre, music, and carnival to celebrate both the Queen’s reign and the range of communities across the UK.

A specially written fairy story, There Once Is A Queen by author Michael Morpurgo will also be brought to life. Further details of the event will be announced throughout the course of the next year, organisers said.

Announcing the event at the Victoria & Albert Museum on 29 June, co-chair of the pageant, Nicholas David Coleridge, said the Jubilee will be “something of a reopening ceremony for the United Kingdom, following a period of uncertainty and hardship”.

“Through the fusion of ceremonial and pageantry with razzmatazz and festival, we intend to create a spectacle that is at once energising and memorable and a fitting tribute to the Queen,” he added.

Adrian Evans, the pageant master, said there will be a “sprinkling” of the presence of the late Duke of Edinburgh throughout the event.

“We are commissioning artists and the communities they work with to interpret different chapters of the Queen’s reign in a spectacular unfolding story,” he added.

The Queen’s Jubilee weekend will also include her birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, which is expected to take part at Buckingham Palace after being relegated to Windsor Castle for the last two years because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The royal family will also attend the Derby at Epsom Downs and host a Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace, which members of the public will have the chance to attend.