Queen to light principal jubilee beacon at Windsor Castle

The Queen is also expected to attend Trooping the Colour and the Service of Thanksgiving

(Getty)

The Queen will lead the lighting of the principal jubilee beacon this Thursday, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The lighting will take place in a special ceremony at Windsor Castle on Thursday evening, the first day of the four-day platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend.

The new engagement, added to the Queen’s jubilee diary, will see the monarch symbolically touch the Commonwealth Globe of Nations, created for the Beacons projects, in the castle Quadrangle.

This is the signal for the start of the illumination of the Tree of Trees principal beacon at Buckingham Palace

Waiting at the palace will be the Duke of Cambridge, representing his grandmother, as part of a special dual ceremony.

More than 2,000 beacons are set to be lit to honour the Queen’s 70-year reign, and will be lit throughout the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and British Overseas Territories, including one in each of the capital cities of Commonwealth countries, in recognition of the Queen’s service.

There will also be a brand new Song for the Commonwealth which will be sung by choirs in all 54 Commonwealth countries at the same time as the lighting of the beacons.

The lighting of the beacon will take place at approximately 9.25pm on Thursday 2 June. It will mark the Queen’s second appearance of the day as Her Majesty is also expected to make an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the Trooping the Colour parade.

Trooping the Colour will take place down The Mall in London, leading to Buckingham Palace.

Senior members of the royal family are expected to appear on the balcony alongside the Queen, including the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with their three children, George, Charlotte and Louis.

Prince Andrew will be noticeably absent from the balcony appearance, as Buckingham Palace clarified in May that it would only include working royal family members.