01/06/2012

Rehearsals In London For Diamond Jubilee

A dress rehearsal of a procession to Buckingham Palace took place in the early hours of this morning as preparations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee hotted up.

Beacons will be lit across the UK and street parties will be held, but the main celebrations are planned for London.

More than 1,000 boats will sail in a flotilla on the River Thames from Putney to Tower Bridge and events will culminate in the carriage procession rehearsed today.

Members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Division will join 2,000 servicemen and women on the route between the Palace of Westminster, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral before being picked up in the 1902 state landau carriage.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be joined by the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry for Tuesday's event.

On Monday, artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Elton John, Jessie J and JLS will perform at the BBC's Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace.

And to mark the occasion, the Woodland Trust has revealed the location of 60 new areas of planned woodland – one of each year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign - spread across the UK.

(NE)

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