Tens of thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Saturday and watch a pop concert that started with the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear.
In a short video, the queen revealed that she kept the Bear’s favourite – a marmalade sandwich – inside her ever-present handbag. She then started tapping along to the tune of the Queen rock anthem “We Will Rock You”, which opened the show.
A host of performers will appear on stage, including Alicia Keys, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart, before the queen’s son and heir Prince Charles, and her grandson Prince William, pay tribute to the record-breaking monarch following her 70 years on the throne.
By early evening, tens of thousands of people had gathered on the Mall, the grand boulevard that runs up to the palace, and in a nearby park to watch the concert on big screens, while those with tickets surrounded the stage on a warm evening.
The opening video between the queen and the fictional character from children’s literature had echoes of 2012 when she appeared with Britain’s most famous fictional spy James Bond in a video for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
The monarch was not present at Saturday’s concert due to the “episodic mobility problems” that have caused her to cancel a number of engagements recently.
