London, Europe Brief News – Four days of celebrations honouring Queen Elizabeth II‘s 70 years on the throne are under way.
Formal celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee began on Thursday with Trooping the Colour, an annual military review that has marked the sovereign’s official birthday since 1760.
Seventy years after she took her first salute as sovereign, mobility issues dictated that the Queen break with tradition, allowing the Prince of Wales to take the salute on her behalf at Horse Guards Parade. He was joined by the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal.
The monarch, 96, skipped the physically arduous inspecting of the guard and instead acknowledged the salute of the returning Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment at the end of the parade from the Buckingham Palace balcony, accompanied by the Duke of Kent, 86.
Watching the parade from the Major General’s Office overlooking Horse Guards were the Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, who had taken part in their first carriage procession.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex flew in from California with their children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, who turns one on Saturday. They were not included in the carriage procession to Horse Guards Parade but watched from the same office along with other royals. They are expected to attend a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s on Friday.
There was one glaring absentee: the Duke of York. Stripped of royal patronages and affiliations after settling a civil suit in the US over sexual assault claims, he was not present. Family drama and scandal dictated the lineup on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for the RAF flypast marking the end of the ceremony, with no Andrew and no Harry or Meghan after “Megxit” and the couple’s accusations of racial hostility from the royal family.
