The Queen’s 70th Jubilee is the major event in Great Britain. On Thursday the celebrations started with the big military parade, tonight there will be a big concert. All important events to read in the FOCUS Online ticker.
11:13 a.m .: Queen’s great-granddaughter Lilibet received congratulations from the palace on her first birthday. “Wishing Lilibet a Happy 1st Birthday,” the Royal Family’s official account tweeted on Saturday, along with a balloon emoji. As reported by the media, Queen Elizabeth II wanted to meet her second youngest great-grandchild in person on Saturday.
According to information from the newspaper “Sun”, the audience for Lilibet’s family with father Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan is not the first time that the Queen has seen the toddler in person. Accordingly, Elizabeth met little Lilibet, named after the monarch’s family nickname, on one of the previous days.
10:21 a.m .: The new Australian government is distancing itself from the head of state Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s 70th jubilee is an occasion to think about the future of the former British colony, said cabinet member Matt Thistlethwaite of the British news agency PA.
With the end of Elizabeth’s reign, the time had come for a serious debate. “Australia is an independent country. We have our own unique identity and culture,” said Thistlethwaite. All Australians should have the opportunity to become head of state.
As in many other Commonwealth member states, the Queen is formally the head of state in Australia. Thistlethwaite’s appointment as Assistant Minister for the Republic has fueled suspicions that Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is seeking a referendum on the issue. In a 1999 referendum, a majority (55 percent) of Australians voted to retain the monarchy.
“My job in the early stages is a kind of education – to explain to people that we have a foreign monarch as head of state, that we have a deputy representative in the governor-general, but that we could have an Australian as head of state,” Thistlethwaite said However, there is still a long way to go before a referendum is held, and the Labor government is reportedly not planning to do so until after re-election.
Premier Albanese paid tribute to the Queen at a ceremony on Saturday and renamed an island in Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin reservoir Queen Elizabeth II Island. The Queen has visited Canberra 14 times during her reign.
8:59 a.m .: With their own speeches, heir to the throne Prince Charles and his son Prince William want to honor the Queen on her 70th anniversary at a mega concert in London. Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son and her grandson wanted to speak out on a stage in front of Buckingham Palace late Saturday night and address the approximately 22,000 spectators separately, British media reported.
The two-and-a-half hour spectacle is the culmination of the third day of the anniversary celebrations. Among others, the US singers Alicia Keys and Diana Ross as well as the British bands Duran Duran and Queen are to appear. The appearance of Queen guitarist Brian May was eagerly awaited. At the golden throne jubilee in 2002 he played a rocking version of the national anthem “God Save the Queen” from the roof of the palace. Celebrities such as footballer David Beckham and actress Julie Andrews are said to be there.
It was considered unlikely in the morning whether the Queen would watch the celebration in her honor live at the palace. The 96-year-old had canceled her participation in the thanksgiving service in her honor on Friday, as well as attending a horse race near London that was planned for Saturday afternoon. The monarch had recently repeatedly canceled appointments due to mobility problems. Her daughter Princess Anne was expected to replace her at the racecourse.
At her Windsor Castle residence, the Queen wanted to receive her grandson Prince Harry and his family instead, who had traveled to the celebrations together from the United States for the first time. Harry’s daughter Lilibet, who is named after her great-grandmother’s family nickname, celebrated her first birthday on Saturday.
Saturday, June 4th, 8:50 a.m.: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Queen Elizabeth II as a “role model” for the 70th anniversary of her throne. “In the past seventy years there have been twelve German Presidents – but only one Queen Elizabeth,” said Steinmeier in a video message published in English on Friday.
“Over these seven decades, shaped by your wisdom and leadership, you helped write our common history after the catastrophe of World War II.” With her determination and steady hand, she was a role model for the British as well as for the Germans. “And now that war is raging again in Europe, your tireless commitment to lasting peace between peoples is a source of hope and inspiration.”
7:58 p.m .: How is the Queen and aren’t the celebrations too much for the monarch, who is already in poor health? Duchess Kate is said to have given a guest the all-clear: “She was fine, it was just very exhausting yesterday, but she had a really good time,” the Duchess is quoted as saying in the “Daily Mail”.
7.35 p.m .: The British punk band “The K**ts” sings about the trial of Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre in their controversial version of the well-known children’s song “The Grand Old Duke of York”. In it, they make fun of the financial compensation he paid. Now, of all things, during the Queen’s 70th Jubilee celebrations, the song even made it into the top 20 of the British music charts. A very strange choice.
Giuffre has sued Prince Andrew for sexual abuse. The court awarded her millions in compensation. It is said to be between seven and twelve million pounds.
7:12 p.m .: On the third day of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th jubilee, there will be a big celebration with a pop concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday evening. Around 22,000 guests are expected at the “BBC Platinum Party”. The two-and-a-half-hour concert will feature rockers from Queen with Adam Lambert, Motown legend Diana Ross and British pop great Elton John. The US singer Alicia Keys and the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli are also there.
4:55 p.m .: The 96-year-old Queen has canceled her visit to the traditional horse race in Epsom, which was planned for Saturday, for health reasons, according to British media she is represented by her daughter Princess Anne. On Friday, Elizabeth II had already missed the big thanksgiving service in London’s Saint Paul Cathedral because of “illness”.
Nice side effect: The Queen will be able to celebrate the birthday of her great-granddaughter Lilibet tomorrow, Saturday. Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s daughter is one year old. Brother Archie should also be part of the party.
4:31 p.m .: In front of the church, the strains associated with royal ceremonies were shown again: three guards, some of whom had to stand still for hours in heavy uniforms, fainted on the steps. You should secure the Queen’s Jubilee service. The incidents are said to have occurred shortly before Prince Charles (73) arrived.
Those responsible kept calm and helped the three soldiers back on their feet. You are apparently fine.
4:26 p.m.: Pictures show a very funny Harry during the thanksgiving service. He and Meghan sit in the “Non-Working Members of the Royal Family”. Next to them Princess Eugenie (32) and her husband Jack Brooksbank (32). Place. The two couples are known to still get along really well and are always up for a joke.
2:38 p.m .: Rugby player Mike Tindall (43), who is married to Zara Tindall (41), posted a curious photo on his Instagram story on Thursday. With his wife’s hat on his head, he definitely shows humor. Accompanying the picture, he wrote that he looks forward to the coming days celebrating one of the greatest women in history.
1:32 p.m .: Next to Harry and Meghan and also William and Kate leave the cathedral. Kate waved to the crowd while chatting with William. Meghan and Harry chatted briefly with Zara Tindall and her husband Mike before getting in the car.
For William, Kate and a few other royals, it’s on to the Old City Hall of London. The mayor invites you to lunch there. Meghan and Harry are not supposed to be present.
1:24 p.m .: In honor of the Queen, the largest bell in the country called “Great Paul” is now ringing in St. Paul’s Cathedral – for the first time for a royal occasion. Outside you can hear the cheering of the spectators.
1:16 p.m .: Now the national anthem “God Save The Queen” sounds. All guests stand up. Altogether more than 2000 people take part in the thanksgiving service. This concludes the Queen’s special thanksgiving service. The royals and all the other guests slowly step out of the cathedral.
12.46 p.m.: The Archbishop of York gives an address at St. Paul’s Cathedral and immediately jokes. He said the Queen is definitely watching TV and says he knows she’s a huge horse racing fan. Unfortunately, he couldn’t give her any tips. But the priest emphasizes one thing: “We are all glad that you are still firmly in the saddle.”
12:30 p.m.: Everyone has taken their places and the ceremony has begun. The camera briefly pans over to Harry and Meghan. Prince William’s little brother looked nervously at the cathedral ceiling. The first reading from the Bible is done. After some hymns, a prayer is said.
12.07 p.m .: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, along with other members of the Royal Family, were greeted with jubilation before the thanksgiving service in honor of the Queen. Harry wore his military insignia to the event at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, while Meghan appeared in a cream coat and hat.
It is the couple’s first official appearance at the Queen’s Jubilee, for which they traveled to London from the United States with their children. And it is the first appointment together at an official royal event since her retirement from the British royal family. The relationship, especially from Harry to his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William, is considered to be heavily burdened.
You can see all the royals walking into St. Paul’s Cathedral in this gallery.
11:57 a.m .: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was booed when he arrived at the thanksgiving service in honor of the Queen’s jubilee at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The shouts of onlookers could be heard clearly as the prime minister walked up the steps of the cathedral with his wife Carrie Johnson on Friday morning. This was in stark contrast to the jubilation witnessed by Head of State Queen Elizabeth II at her public appearances on Thursday.
Johnson is under immense domestic political pressure because of the “Partygate” scandal surrounding lockdown parties in Downing Street. More and more MPs from his Conservative Party are also turning their backs on him. An imminent vote of no confidence is considered possible.
11:55 am: St. Paul’s Cathedral is slowly filling up. A total of around 440 guests are expected. Thousands of royal fans have gathered in front of the cathedral.
11:23 a.m .: Holding a thanksgiving service in honor of the Queen in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral is not an everyday task for one of the highest-ranking archbishops in Great Britain. “It’s a bit scary, but it’s a great honor,” Archbishop Stephen Cottrell said in a BBC interview ahead of the Queen’s 70th Jubilee service on Friday morning. “I try to treat it like any other service.” The Archbishop had to step in at short notice after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had contracted Corona in the past few days.
What gives him security is the certainty that the Queen wants to hear about the Christian faith, which has carried her through her life and reign, said Cottrell, regretting that the monarch canceled her attendance at the service at short notice for health reasons would have. He wanted to say a few personal words to her. “But I’m sure she’ll be watching on TV,” he added. After her public appearances at the start of the jubilee, the 96-year-old Queen is represented at the service by the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and other members of the Royal Family. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are also expected. The throne jubilee is celebrated these days with parades, street festivals and a big concert.
You can read more about the events surrounding the platinum anniversary on the next page.
Read here: Personal SUV and security: Queen sends signs of reconciliation to Harry and Meghan
