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The Queen's Diamond Jubilee - celebrations and events
Royal Jubilees
- the first British monarch to mark 50 years on the throne in a significant way was George III
- the only other British monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee was Queen Victoria in 1897
To mark 60 years of The Queen's reign the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. The celebrations will centre around an extended weekend in 2012 on 2, 3, 4 and 5 June.
Find out what is being planned to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and how you can take part.
60 years of The Queen's reign
The Queen came to the throne on 6 February 1952 and her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.
She celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee (50 years) in 2002.
Diamond Jubilee website
A Diamond Jubilee website, including two new photographs of The Queen, has been launched by the Royal Household. It features the latest news, photographs, announcements and historical information about The Queen's 60-year reign. Visitors can also send a congratulatory message to The Queen.
Regional and overseas visits to mark the Diamond Jubilee
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be visiting England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2012 to mark Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.
Other members of the Royal Family will also travel throughout the United Kingdom and overseas this year. Further information is on the British Monarchy website.
Bank holiday
The late May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will take place on Tuesday 5 June 2012.
The extra bank holiday and extended bank holiday weekend also applies to Scotland.
School closures
Schools in England and Wales will be able to close on Tuesday 5 June 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
If a school is already closed on 5 June for half term or another reason, it will be able to close on a different day.
Scotland and Northern Ireland will be making their own arrangements.
Events before the Jubilee Weekend
Commonwealth Day
On Monday 12 March 2012 Her Majesty The Queen will attend Commonwealth Day Observance in Westminster Abbey to celebrate Her Diamond Jubilee and 60 years as Head of the Commonwealth. It will also be attended by the Prime Minister, High Commissioners and over 1,000 UK school children.
To find out more about Commonwealth Day, and how you can get involved in the celebrations in 2012 wherever you live visit the Royal Commonwealth Society.
Diamond Jubilee Pageant
Dancers, musicians, military and equestrian displays from around the world will come together for three nights in the private grounds of Windsor Castle on 10, 11 and 13 May.
Parade and Muster at Windsor
On Saturday 19 May nearly 2,500 troops from the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force will parade through Windsor Castle and town before Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh. They will then muster in the castle grounds for a unique event before an audience of more than 3,000 Armed Forces personnel, their families, and veterans. Further details will be issued shortly.
The Central Weekend 2-5 June 2012
Concert at Buckingham Palace
A concert organised by the BBC will be held at Buckingham Palace on Monday 4 June. It will be attended by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and other Members of the Royal Family. A national ballot has been launched and 10,000 members of the public will be selected to receive free tickets. The closing date for the ballot is 2 March. Further information is available on the BBC website.
Service of Thanksgiving
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will attend a national Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday 5 June. A Prayer, written at The Queen’s direction by the Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral in honour of the Diamond Jubilee, will be used in the service. Churches around the country and Commonwealth are also welcome to use the prayer.
Thames River Pageant
At high water in the afternoon of Sunday 3 June 2012, up to a thousand boats will muster on the River Thames in preparation for Her Majesty The Queen to lead the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
Big Jubilee Lunch
The fourth annual Big Lunch will fall on the same weekend as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. So anyone who would like to celebrate and commemorate the Queen’s 60 year reign can do so by holding a Big Jubilee Lunch!
Jubilee beacons
Thousands of beacons will be lit around the world on 4 June 2012 to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen's 60 year reign over the UK and as head of the Commonwealth.
Museums and galleries
In 2012 the Royal Collection will hold exhibitions at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse and elsewhere in the United Kingdom to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
The National Maritime Museum will open 'Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames' in April 2012. It will explore the relationship between the Queen, the City of London and the River Thames.
The National Portrait Gallery will stage ‘The Queen: Art and Image’, a touring exhibition of images of the Queen.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is holding an exhibition of portraits of The Queen by photographer Cecil Beaton, which will tour around the UK.
Related to this page
Holding your own Diamond Jubilee celebrations
If you want to arrange your own Diamond Jubilee street party, advice is available. And the Big Lunch can help you organise an event.
Your local council may have details of any local events. Communities can apply to the Big Lottery Fund for funding through the Awards for All Scheme.
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal
An official medal has been commissioned to mark the Jubilee. Those in the Armed Forces, emergency services and prison service personnel, are among those eligible to wear it.
Diamond Jubilee emblem and titles
10-year-old Katherine Dewar's design for the Jubilee emblem was chosen after a national competition.
It is free to download and is available for use for all activities associated with the celebrations.
Charities
A new charitable Trust, 'The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust', has been launched. Members of the public are welcome to make contributions.
In November 2010 the Big Lottery Fund launched the Jubilee People’s Millions Competition. This will grant £3.6 million in award money to local community projects. The winning projects were announced in July 2011.
Environmental projects
The Jubilee Woods Project was launched by The Woodlands Trust in February 2011. It will create a 460-acre public wood in Leicestershire to celebrate the Jubilee and also aims to plant six million trees across the UK, creating hundreds of new woodlands. As part of this project, 60 ‘Diamond Woods’ of at least 60 acres each will be planted to mark each year of the Queen’s reign. The planting will begin in autumn 2011 and run to the end of 2012.
Fields in Trust has launched the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge to protect recreational spaces for the Diamond Jubilee. You can vote for your favourite outdoor recreational space to be protected and become a Queen Elizabeth II Field on the Fields in Trust website.
Digital projects
The Royal Commonwealth Society has organised a special Jubilee Time Capsule, a digital archive of The Queen’s reign. You can contribute to this by picking a day and adding your memories and stories of that day. You can use photos, words or videos and talk about anything you want.
Face Britain is a project created by The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts for children and young people aged 4-16 in the UK. You will be able to create a self-portrait and see it on public display as part of the celebrations.
City status and Lord Mayoralty
As part of the celebrations, towns in the UK will also compete for city status and existing cities will compete for Lord Mayoralty (or Lord Provostship in Scotland). These will be granted by The Queen in her Jubilee year. The results will be announced in the first half of 2012.
In London, Greenwich has been granted Royal Borough status in recognition of the historically close links between Greenwich and the monarchy. Like city status, Lord Mayoralty or Lord Provostship, this is a purely symbolic award and brings no extra powers, functions or funding.
Illegitimate Use of the Diamond Jubilee name
It has come to the attention of the organisers of the Diamond Jubilee that some external parties have been illegitimately using the name of the Diamond Jubilee to publicise unofficial or fraudulent projects.
Publicity has been sent out using the names of government officials and referring to a ‘Diamond Jubilee Arts Contest’. This is not a genuine competition and appears to be an attempt to extort funds fraudulently from individuals. The ‘contest’ is not authorised by government or by Buckingham Palace and will be passed on for investigation by Action Fraud.
Holding your own Diamond Jubilee celebrations
If you want to arrange your own Diamond Jubilee street party, advice is available. And the Big Lunch can help you organise an event.
Your local council may have details of any local events. Communities can apply to the Big Lottery Fund for funding through the Awards for All Scheme.
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal
An official medal has been commissioned to mark the Jubilee. Those in the Armed Forces, emergency services and prison service personnel, are among those eligible to wear it.
Diamond Jubilee emblem and titles
10-year-old Katherine Dewar's design for the Jubilee emblem was chosen after a national competition.
It is free to download and is available for use for all activities associated with the celebrations.
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