Queen’s platinum jubilee 2022: Queen thanked as royals attend St Paul’s service in her absence – live

Queen to miss Epsom Derby

Shortly after the service of thanksgiving, it was announced that the Queen would not be attending her favourite horse race at Epsom on Saturday.

Princess Anne is expected to attend in her place.

The Queen is expected to watch the major sporting event on television at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

It is the second event the Queen has been forced to miss, after having to pull out of attending the thanksgiving service at St Paul’s today due to mobility problems that have plagued her jubilee year.

Updated at 10.56 EDT

David and Victoria Beckham will host a special Jubilee lunch for inspirational individuals as part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

The A-list couple will celebrate people who have made incredible contributions to their communities.

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The Beckham’s Big Jubilee Lunch will air as part of the platinum pageant on BBC One on Sunday, PA News reports.

In a post shared to Instagram on Thursday, David, 47, hailed the Queen’s reign as “remarkable”, writing:

Today, we celebrate our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 70 years of service and inspirational leadership of our country.

Let’s come together and commemorate her remarkable reign with a great British party these next few days.

Those attending the couple’s lunch include MBE recipients, including Judith Harper, who was made an MBE for services to fostering, having fostered more than 100 children.

Also at the lunch will be Saeed Atcha, who was made an MBE for services to young people and the community in 2019. At 22-years-old, Atcha was the youngest recipient on the 2019 Honours list.

Queen to miss Epsom Derby

Shortly after the service of thanksgiving, it was announced that the Queen would not be attending her favourite horse race at Epsom on Saturday.

Princess Anne is expected to attend in her place.

The Queen is expected to watch the major sporting event on television at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

It is the second event the Queen has been forced to miss, after having to pull out of attending the thanksgiving service at St Paul’s today due to mobility problems that have plagued her jubilee year.

Updated at 10.56 EDT

The Queen had a “lovely” time at Thursday’s platinum jubilee celebrations but found the day “very tiring”, the Duchess of Cambridge is said to have told an attendee at a Guildhall reception.

Gill Smallwood from Bolton spoke with Kate on Friday after a service of thanksgiving at the nearby St Paul’s Cathedral.

Smallwood said she had asked Kate how the Queen was doing.

She told the PA news agency:

She [Kate] said, ‘yes, she was fine, it was just very tiring yesterday, and she [the Queen] had had a lovely, lovely time’.

She said Kate told her that princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte also “had a lovely time” at Thursday’s celebrations, during which all three Cambridge children appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for a flypast.

Smallwood, chief executive of the domestic violence charity Fortalice, was made an MBE in the new year honours.

Updated at 10.31 EDT

Corgi-shaped cakes, trifle bowls and posh souvenir mugs are among the platinum jubilee-themed products that have hit the spot for shoppers amid a high street battle for the £400m of extra sales riding on the festivities.

Corgi merchandise was one of the big retail trends to emerge, with the small dogs emblazoned on everything from biscuits to mugs, T-shirts and cushions. Marks & Spencer scored a hit with its Queen Connie and Corgi caterpillar cake duo, which sold out in many stores, including on Ocado.

A knitted corgi. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

It is estimated that 39 million adults are celebrating the jubilee, with 4.1 million families planning to attend a street party. They will have spent about £45m on jubilee cakes and sweets to share, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR), which predicts the overall spending boost will be £408m – part of a wider economic lift that could be as much as £6bn.

The household specialist Lakeland said its £35 vintage-look trifle bowls sold out as soon as a lemon and swiss roll amaretti version of the classic dessert was declared as the official pudding. Cake-stand sales at Waitrose have also doubled with customers searching its website for Victoria sponge and scone recipes with “afternoon tea”.

Platinum Jubilee souvenirs. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

The retail marketplace OnBuy, which had warned of a potential bunting shortage due to the scramble it saw for party supplies last week, said union flag bunting, party hats and banners were among the products that had sold out.

CRR thinks the souvenir and memorabilia trade will have been worth about £282m, with 6m mugs and 10m flags among the mountain of T-shirts, cushions, stationery and knick-knacks sold.

Television viewing figures for the first day of the Queen’s jubilee were substantially down on previous royal occasions, although millions still tuned in.

A peak audience of 7.5 million people watched the BBC’s broadcast of trooping the colour on Thursday, as it kicked off a long weekend of coverage to celebrate 70 years of the Queen’s reign.

Later that evening, the BBC’s broadcast of the lighting of beacons to mark the Queen’s 70th year on the throne attracted a peak 5 million viewers, according to figures produced by rating agency BARB.

By comparison the audience for Prince Philip’s funeral last year peaked at more than 13 million people, while Prince William and Harry’s weddings hit 26 million and 18 million viewers respectively.

The relatively muted figures suggest the public took advantage of the extra bank holiday and good weather to head outside, rather than being glued to their televisions.

While trooping the colour was still the most watched programme on terrestrial television, ITV’s Coronation Street and Britain’s Got Talent were not far behind, with almost 4 million viewers each.

The BBC has sometimes struggled with the tone of its royal coverage, having come under criticism during the Queen’s diamond jubilee in 2012 for trying to use younger presenters in an attempt to attract a wider audience. Last year, the national broadcaster also received a record number of complaints from members of the public who felt it went overboard with wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Philip’s death.

Kirsty Young returned to television to anchor the BBC’s jubilee coverage after four years off air after a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis with secondary fibromyalgia.

The BBC’s live commentary was provided by Huw Edwards and strayed into controversy when a former officer in the Irish Guards described the soldiers as “a great mick cocktail”.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton said: “The micks have this fantastic mix of guards’ discipline and pursuit of excellence, with that Irish ‘irrational tenth’ if I can quote Lawrence of Arabia, which makes it the best regiment on the planet.”

Edwards interjected to say that while viewers might think the term was offensive, “it’s worth underlining that’s what you Irish Guards call yourselves”.

Joe Dwyer of Sinn Féin wrote on Twitter: “The year is 2022 … and a BBC presenter and someone from the British army are explaining why ‘micks’ actually isn’t an offensive term for Irish people.”

Read more from my colleagues Jim Waterson and Emily Dugan:

Ed Sheeran has revealed how past jubilee celebrations inspired his musical career ahead of his performance at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on Sunday.

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In a post on Instagram, the singer wrote:

20 years ago I decided I wanted to pick up a guitar because I watched the Golden Jubilee on tv, saw Eric Clapton play Layla and said ‘that’s what I wanna do’.

10 years later I played The A Team at the Diamond Jubilee, and now 10 years on I’m playing the Platinum Jubilee this Sunday.

Life is weird how it keeps coming full circle in lovely ways. Tune in on Sunday and see ya there x

Sheeran, 31, is set to perform his song Perfect during Sunday’s celebrations, as a tribute to the Queen and her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh, PA News reports.

Updated at 10.19 EDT

Which events are still to come?

As we near the half-way point of the four-day weekend to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, here are the key timings for the remaining official celebrations.

Saturday 4.30pm (BST) Royal family members are due to attend the Derby at Epsom Downs. For people in the UK, it will be broadcast live on ITV1.

Saturday 8pm Elton John, Alicia Keys, Stefflon Don, Craig David and Andrea Bocelli are among the stars performing at the Platinum Party at the Palace – a concert at Buckingham Palace for 22,000 people, including royals and 5,000 key workers – plus many more from home watching on BBC One. Proceedings will be overseen by the hosts Kirsty Young and Roman Kemp. The concert will also be shown on big screens at St James’ Park and the Mall, Bute Park and Princes Street Gardens.

Sunday lunchtime More than 10 million people across the UK are expected to attend lunch events as part of the “big jubilee lunch”. Outside the UK, more than 600 lunches have been planned across the Commonwealth.

Sunday 2.30pm The gold state carriage, led by the sovereign’s escort but not carrying the Queen, will lead a pageant on a 3km route up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Involving more than 10,000 people – including military, volunteers, performers and key workers – it will be available to watch on BBC One from 1pm and on the big screens in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Thunderstorms could dampen platinum jubilee celebrations, with the Met Office issuing a weather warning for southern England.

Forecasters are predicting heavy rain and lightning in some places and a yellow warning has been put in place from midnight until 10am on Saturday, PA Media reports.

The area covered by the warning stretches from Dover to Penzance and up to Bath and south London.

The warning has been issued for the morning after initially being thought that thunderstorms could strike on Saturday evening, during the BBC’s Platinum party at the Palace.

Around 22,000 people are expected at the event, which will see performances including Craig David, Alicia Keys, and Sir Rod Stewart.

Updated at 10.17 EDT

The royals and other guests are currently at a jubilee reception at the Guildhall in central London.

Vincent Keaveny, lord mayor of the city, has given a speech to guests. In it, he praised the Queen’s decades of “continuity, stability and unity” during her long reign.

“We are immensely grateful for her 70 years of service to the United Kingdom and to the Commonwealth that we are celebrating today,” he said. “She has been a great example of duty and public service for all of us. She is one of the most widely recognised and respected people in the world.

“And for 70 years she has provided continuity, stability and unity. There could be no better ambassador for this country and for the Commonwealth.

“All of us here are very grateful for the service she has given and the way she has served as head of state – with dignity, devotion and a deeply rooted faith.”

Updated at 09.19 EDT

Ed Hermes of London, stretches to get a photo of the events at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer People try to get a better view by watching through a hole in a media tent at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer The family of Toni Vainio (bottom with baseball cap) watch the proceedings at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer A woman peers through a media tent hoping to get a better view of the procession at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

Updated at 09.42 EDT

Scotland’s first minister has spoken of her “deep respect” for the Queen, after attending the thanksgiving service at St Paul’s cathedral in London.

In an interview with the BBC, Nicola Sturgeon said her private conversations with the monarch were one of the privileges of being first minister.

The SNP leader added she wanted the Queen and her successors to remain as head of state if Scotland became independent.

Nicola Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Murrell. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/AP

“One of the things that I feel great respect for the Queen around is just that dedication, that selfless commitment to duty and to service,” she said.

“I like her a lot – I have deep respect for her as many people do. I think it is fair to say that, that opportunity to talk with her, to benefit from her knowledge, her wisdom and perhaps above all the completely unique perspective she has on modern world history, is something that I deeply value and will always really treasure.”

Updated at 08.56 EDT

Full story: Tributes paid to absent Queen at jubilee service of thanksgiving

It was a service of thanksgiving for an absent Queen, a St Paul’s Cathedral celebration to mark the longest reign of any British monarch. But the person to whom it was dedicated was far away at Windsor Castle, forced to watch on television, indisposed by the mobility issues that have plagued her jubilee year.

Senior royals, parliamentarians and diplomats joined 400 members of the public honoured for key roles they have played in their communities in the 2,000-strong congregation to celebrate the 70-year reign of the Queen, a lover of horses whose time on the throne, they heard, reflected “the distance of Aintree more than the sprints of Epsom”.

The service was designed to be the spiritual heart of the platinum jubilee, so the Queen, 96, a committed Christian and the supreme governor of the Church of England, would have been loth to miss it.

But members of her family were out in force. They included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, seen in public with other members of the royal family for the first time since their exit from royal duties and decampment to the US more than two years ago.

A smiling Harry and Meghan arrived by car at the great west door, shortly after a long line of many others royals had been disgorged from a coach to file inside.

The couple were greeted by huge cheers from the crowd outside as they walked, hand in hand, up the cathedral’s steps. Here at the Queen’s specific invitation, they chatted with a line of clergy. Then, still hand in hand, they walked to their seats as the eyes of the congregation craned to see them.

They were seated in the second row from the front, squeezing past Harry’s cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their respective husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank, to get to their seats.

The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived last, to take part in the official procession through the cathedral before taking up seats at the front.

This was a service of deputies, Charles deputising for his mother, and the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, called on to deliver the sermon in place of the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who was indisposed through Covid. The Duke of York, also due to be there, was also ruled out by Covid.

Boris Johnson read from the New Testament. As he and his wife, Carrie, had arrived at the cathedral, loud boos could be heard from the crowd gathered outside. Others in attendance included cabinet ministers, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, former prime ministers, and first ministers of the devolved governments. Key workers, charity volunteers and members of the armed forces were invited in recognition of their contribution to public life.

Read more here:

Updated at 08.59 EDT

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, and the former prime minister Theresa May are among the attendees enjoying refreshments at a reception following the St Paul’s service of thanksgiving.

Canapés at the Guildhall event include smoked Norfolk duck breast, smoked salmon and dill, beetroot shortbread and cocktail sausages, PA News reports.

There are a range of dishes from the buffet – among them coronation chicken with grapes and rice salad.

A selection of drinks such as English sparkling wine and wines from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as some non-alcoholic beverages including a cranberry bellini are on offer.

Updated at 08.05 EDT

Beverly and Noel Chung and their grandchildren watch the parade and events at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Crowds gather outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer A group of women watch and enjoy the service at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Amy and Malie from Pembrokeshire, Wales, watch the events from atop a red postbox. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer People try to get photos and video on their phones of the jubilee events at St Paul’s. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

Updated at 08.03 EDT

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are in attendance at a reception at London’s Guildhall.

The couple, who have come from the national service of thanksgiving at the nearby St Paul’s Cathedral, were greeted by the former lord mayor Sir David Wootton and Colonel Simon Duckworth. They were followed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Guests at the reception include many of those who attended the religious service, including royals and senior politicians.

Boris Johnson and Priti Patel were among the members of the government in attendance.

Other royals attending include the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their husbands.

The Wessexes arrived with their children Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and Viscount Severn.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were present at St Paul’s, are not due to attend the reception.

Updated at 08.02 EDT

Senior members of the royal family sing a hymn at the national service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Photograph: Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan seemed in good spirits and received a loud cheer on arrival. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Boris Johnson did a reading from the New Testament. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Members of the royal family during the service. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA The Queen was unable to attend the event so Prince Charles represented her. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/AP

Here’s a clip of Boris and Carrie Johnson being booed and heckled as they arrived at St Paul’s earlier.

Boris Johnson booed as he arrives at Queen’s jubilee thanksgiving service – video

Updated at 07.35 EDT

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Boris Johnson gives a reading from the new testament Photograph: Dan Kitwood/PA Prince William during the service Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

The thanksgiving service is coming to an end after the singing of the national anthem.

The royal family formed a procession and walked back down the aisle in pairs.

Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Kate were seen chatting with members of the clergy before making their way out of St Paul’s.

Updated at 07.35 EDT