The Sunday Times - UK (2022-06-05)

The Sunday Times June 5, 2022 3

The Firm goes walkabout

while the boss has a rest

Thousands queue for hours

for Glasto at the palace

On Friday Rod Stewart, 77,

had admitted that performing

last night would be “nerve-

racking”, adding the Queen

felt “almost like a sister”.

He said: “It’s pride in being

British, it’s the pageantry, the

romance. I mean I’ve grown

up with this woman, I was

seven when she came to the

throne, so she’s always been

part of my life and the fact

that I’ve met her on several

occasions makes it even more

important for me.”

Queen kicked off the event

fronted by their American

singer Adam Lambert, with

the daunting task of topping

Brian May’s rendition of God

Save the Queen from the

palace roof at the Golden

Jubilee concert of 2002.

The Prince of Wales and

the Duke of Cambridge were

both due to pay tributes to

the monarch. Sir David

Attenborough, Dame Julie

Andrews and David Beckham

were also set to appear.

The music line-up also

included Alicia Keys, Craig

David, the Eurovision Song

Contest runner-up Sam Ryder

and composer Hans Zimmer,

with a recorded performance

by Elton John.

The composers Andrew

Lloyd Webber and Lin-

Manuel Miranda were also on

the bill and there were

performances from musicals

The Phantom of the Opera,

Hamilton and The Lion King.

Ross was due to close the

concert with her first live

performance in the UK in 15

years. She will also play at

Glastonbury in three weeks’

time.

Before the concert, Ross

said she was “absolutely

delighted to receive an

invitation to perform on such

a momentous and historic

occasion”.

Sandra Roberts, 52, heard

about the ballot in March,

went online and won two

tickets. She brought her

friend Michelle White, 49.

The pair from Bournemouth

wore Union Jack dresses.

Roberts said: “I’m looking

forward to Queen, Duran

Duran and Prince Charles,

and just the atmosphere. It

feels like a once in a lifetime

opportunity. ”

Halesowen, in the West

Midlands, got her ticket via

the Dudley NHS Trust, where

she works as a community

paediatric nurse, and brought

her friend Julia Godwin, 61.

Dressed in Union Jack

jeans, with a flag draped over

her shoulders and wearing a

tiara, Harris said staff had to

list reasons they deserved a

ticket. “One of the reasons I

put was my friend and I

camped outside Buckingham

Palace for William and Kate’s

wedding,” she explained.

“I’m a bit too old to do the

camping now but I still want

to come to these events

because they’re really

significant. This is a once in a

lifetime, isn’t it?”

Jay Francis, 49, a specialist

nurse at Epsom and St Helier

University Hospitals from

Sutton, southwest London,

brought her wife, Nicola

Goldsmith, 51 to the event. “I

love Diana Ross. That was a

big pull for me, but the whole

event is going to be so

spectacular and special and

to celebrate with the Queen —

70 years is amazing,” she said.

jubilees, so just wanted to be

here to celebrate the 70

years. It’s an absolutely

phenomenal achievement.

We love the Queen. We love

the royal family — just 70

years of devoted service and

we wanted to be a part of it.”

A huge security operation

involved scores of police,

some armed with guns,

around Green Park, which

was closed to the public.

Yesterday morning Trafalgar

Square was briefly evacuated

while the bomb squad

performed a controlled

explosion on a suspicious

vehicle.

About 22,000 people had

tickets to the event, including

7,500 key workers, members

of the armed forces,

volunteers and charity

workers and 10,

members of the public picked

from the millions who

entered the ballot.

Those with tickets were

allowed to form a long queue

in Green Park, dotted with

red, white and blue dresses

and Union Jack accessories.

Ruth Harris, 59, from

The front of Buckingham

Palace looked more like

Glastonbury last night as tens

of thousands of people

flocked to the star-studded

rock concert to celebrate the

Queen’s 70-year reign.

The Platinum Party at the

Palace began at 8pm with

Queen, Rod Stewart, George

Ezra and Diana Ross

headlining, but fans without

tickets began arriving far

earlier for the spectacle.

The concert, shown live on

BBC1, was held on three

interconnected stages

erected around the Victoria

Memorial just in front of

Buckingham Palace. By 3pm,

an hour before the party

gates were due to open, a vast

sea of people without tickets,

but planning to watch the

concert on big screens on the

Mall, had assembled.

Sharon McElroy, 48, and

her daughter Sophie, 25, had

staked out their spot soon

after 7am. Along with nine

family members they sat in

camping chairs with a Union

Jack picnic mat and a baby in

a pram managing to sleep

despite the noise from Queen

(the band, not the monarch)

rehearsing We Are the

Champions.

Speaking in warm

afternoon sunshine, McElroy,

an orthopaedic practitioner

from Harrow, northwest

London, said: “We love the

Queen. We wouldn’t be here

at 7.15am if we didn’t! We

came to the Diamond Jubilee

ten years ago to almost the

same spot for the concert.”

Mark Bailey, 41, a

hospitality manager and his

wife, Clare, 43, an English

teacher, came down from

Worcester on Thursday for

the Jubilee. Clad in a Union

Jack umbrella hat and holding

a flag, in a spot right in front

of the big screen closest to the

concert perimeter, he said:

“We applied for the ballot but

didn’t get in so thought we

would get as close as possible.

We arrived at about 10am and

got the best spot. We

defended it with our bunting

as a barrier.

“We were here for the

Golden and Diamond

Hugo Daniel

Sophie and Sharon McElroy arrived at 7am to bag a spot

HUGO DANIEL

started dancing on the spot in

her high heels.

Prince Louis did not join

the family for the 90-minute-

long event, being considered

too young after his star turn

at Trooping the Colour on

Thursday. As Prince William

joked to one member of the

public, he could have done

“anything” amid the

excitement, including lying

down on the floor for fun.

Prince George and

Princess Charlotte, seven, at

times appeared shy during

the event. When one man

commented on their big week

of celebrations, the duchess

stroked their hair fondly and

said: “They’ve been busy!”

The family were also

introduced to Bonnie Tyler,

who was due to sing at the

concert in Cardiff, before

going on a walkabout.

Anna Jones, 53, and her

new friend Sandra Harris, 74,

engaged the children in a

lively conversation. “Where’s

your brother?” they asked.

“We were wondering where

he was.”

The ladies asked the

children how their first

Trooping the Colour carriage

ride had been, telling

Charlotte they had seen how

she “stopped Louis waving

nearly too much”.

The Earl and Countess of

Wessex visited Northern

Ireland to represent the

Queen there. In Belfast, the

royal couple joined members

of the public at a 1950s-

themed celebration on Royal

Avenue in the city.

They then travelled to

Bangor, Co Down, recently

awarded city status as part of

the Jubilee celebrations,

joining members of the

public at a vintage seaside

funfair. The earl visited a

1950s pop-up diner, where he

tried his hand at pulling a pint

of Guinness. Meanwhile, the

countess was put through her

paces at a 1950s and 1960s

dance demonstration.

To end their visit, the royal

couple went head-to-head in

a cooking contest, chaired by

the French celebrity chef

Jean-Christophe Novelli. The

pair both cooked up some

scrambled eggs, with Novelli

declaring them joint winners.

Amid the pomp and
pageantry of a unique
celebration the most fitting
image of a monarch who put
duty before glitz might not be
the crowns and uniforms but
this: the Queen relaxing at
home in her “comfy clothes”
while the nation celebrates
her record-breaking reign.
That was how Elizabeth II
spent the first part of the
Platinum Jubilee weekend,
her feet up watching the
Derby on television.
While the nation gathered
in her honour at street
parties, the Queen sent her
children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren to the far
corners of her realm while
she stayed glued to the action
on Epsom Downs, armed
with a souvenir racecard sent
to her by the Jockey Club.
The Queen was
represented at the world’s
biggest flat race by the
Princess Royal, who was
accompanied by her
daughter, Zara Tindall. “She
will be watching on the TV —
she has a few runners today
dotted around the country, so
she knows exactly what’s
going on,” Tindall said.
“She’ll just be sat on the sofa
watching the TV in her comfy
clothes.”
It would be nice to think
the 96-year-old monarch was
chilling out in a purple shell
suit emblazoned with “platty
jubers” but perhaps we’ll
never know.
Before the big race the
royal party arrived through a
guard of honour of 40 retired
and still-riding jockeys who
have ridden for the Queen.
Tindall added: “It was so nice
to see so many faces. It was
funny seeing them trying to
fit back into the colours
again, all the retired ones.”
They watched the trainer
Sir Michael Stoute win his
sixth Derby as the favourite,
Desert Crown, romped to an
emphatic victory.
If the Queen was absent
from the big events
honouring her on Saturday,
she was ably represented in
Wales by the Cambridges.
Prince George and
Princess Charlotte helped to

Roya Nikkhah

The Queen meets the four Australians of the

Year on a video call. The overall winner was

Dylan Alcott, a four-time Paralympic medallist

who campaigns for people with a disability

get the Platinum Jubilee party

started in Cardiff as they

turned their hands to running

a sound mixing deck and

conducting an orchestra at

Cardiff Castle.

George jumped and started

giggling after causing a

screech of feedback.

Charlotte took charge of the

lights, turning them on and

off. When it was time to move

on, the Duke of Cambridge

joked: “We’ll go before we

break anything.”

It was the first time the two

children have made an

official visit to Wales. George,

eight, will one day be Prince

of Wales. Celebrating Wales’s

national colours, the duchess

wore a vivid red dress from

Eponine and earrings from

the local brand Spells of Love.

The duchess revealed that

George is learning the electric

guitar and his sister has been

practising the piano. The

family all appeared to be big

fans of the film Encanto and

its song We Don’t Talk About

Bruno. As the Welsh Pops

Orchestra struck up with the

catchy tune, the duchess

HAVE YOU ZOOMED FAR?

BUCKINGHAM PALACE/PA

BRING

OUT THE

BUNTING

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