Beacons circle the world to mark the 50 years

British soldiers yesterday honoured the golden jubilee by lighting a beacon on the spot on Mount Kenya where Princess Elizabeth learned she had become Queen. The beacon, near the Treetops safari camp, was a link in a chain of 2,000 burning through all 54 Commonwealth countries.

Other sites included Victoria Falls on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe and Mpopoti Peak in Malawi, where a giant bonfire burned. Celebrations were held at Goose Bay airbase in Canada, where 8,000 people witnessed an RAF flypast.

Another bonfire was lit on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and a chain of 12 beacons have been lit across Jamaica. In Europe's Commonwealth countries, there was a laser show at the Dhekelia garrison in Cyprus and eight beacons were lit from the Knights of Malta towers.

Beacons were also aflame across Asia where Boy Scouts and the Royal Commonwealth Society were due to be holding celebrations in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

In Pakistan, a beacon was lit in the Murree Hills. Other Commonwealth members – Bangladesh, Brunei, India, the Maldives, Singapore and Sri Lanka – were also holding separate celebrations. Several beacons were set alight in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, and in the Australian capital of Canberra.

British military personnel are to celebrate the Queen's 50-year reign in Bosnia, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falklands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Portugal and even in Russia, where the frigate HMS Chatham is visiting Baltiysk naval base in Kaliningrad.

One of the most remote celebrations was at the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera research base, where scientists plan sub-zero jubilee parties. In the Arctic, 23 children are building a bonfire of driftwood.