Prince Charles and Prince William will take centre stage in front of a crowd of 22,000 to pay tribute to the Queen during a star-studded Jubilee concert this evening.
The father and son – both future kings – will speak separately in honour of the monarch towards the end of the BBC’s open-air Party at the Palace show, staged in the front of Buckingham Palace on Saturday evening.
Clarence House and Kensington Palace announced both Charles and William would address the crowds at the high profile event, which falls on the third evening of the four-day Jubilee festivities.
It is thought unlikely the Queen will attend the concert but confirmation of any movements will be released later today.
She will not attend Saturday’s Epsom Derby Day, but is expected to be glued to the TV, watching the developments from Windsor. Princess Anne will appear in her place.
Harry and Meghan are also expected to be absent from Jubilee celebrations today, with the couple celebrating daughter Lilibet’s first birthday at Windsor. According to Omid Scobie, they will mark the birthday ‘together privately as a family’. The author of Finding Freedom told BBC Breakfast on Friday that Harry and Meghan ‘want to be as low profile as possible during this trip’.
William and Kate are set to visit concert rehearsals in Cardiff Castle as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, while Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex are to travel to Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo were pictured leaving the Maison Estelle private member’s club at 1am last night.
Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla depart the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral
Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral
British Eurovision star Sam Ryder rehearsing outside Buckingham Palace ahead of the BBC’s Party at the Palace concert
Artist impression of the stage outside Buckingham Palace for the Platinum Party at the Palace which will be shown live on BBC One as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration
It is thought royal aides may be trying to help the Queen rest to ensure she will be able to make an appearance at Sunday’s closing Platinum Jubilee Pageant (Pictured: Queen on balcony on Thursday)
Prince Harry smiles as he arrives back at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor after attending the service at St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday
The Queen delighted crowds on Thursday with an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony, where she is expected to appear again after the Pageant parade finale on Sunday.
However she was unable to attend the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, after experiencing some ‘discomfort’ during the first day of celebrations.
She has also spent some personal time with the Sussexes, who have brought their children Archie and Lilibet over from the US – the latter of whom the monarch has met for the first time this weekend.
The Derby on Saturday June 4 was to be a personal highlight for the Queen during the four days of Jubilee festivities.
The head of state, a passionate horse owner and breeder, was due to be greeted on the course with a special guard of honour including up to 40 of her past and present jockeys.
In the evening today, the BBC’s Party at the Palace – set on three stages in front of Buckingham Palace – will entertain a live crowd of 22,000 people and a television audience of millions.
Diana Ross, Queen + Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Hans Zimmer, George Ezra, and Eurovision 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder are among the celebrity acts set to perform.
Charles and William are preparing to deliver public tributes at the concert to the Queen, who will be watching on television from Windsor.
The Queen, 96, who has been facing ongoing mobility problems, pulled out of attending the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday after experiencing discomfort following two balcony appearances and a beacon lighting on Thursday.
Nearly 50 members of the royal family including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined in honour of the absent head of state for the religious occasion.
The Duchess of Cambridge said later the Queen had enjoyed Thursday’s celebrations but the day had been ‘very tiring’.
Saturday is the first birthday of Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, who travelled with the Sussexes and older brother Archie for her first visit to the UK.
The Party at the Palace will be set on three stages in front of the Queen’s London residence.
Soul legend Ross will close the two-and-a-half hour show with her first UK live performance in 15 years.
Royal aides are said to be taking a ‘bookend’ approach to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations as they prioritise getting the monarch on the Buckingham Palace balcony for Sunday’s show-stopping finale pageant. (Pictured Thursday at Buckingham Palace, from left: Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Camilla, Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince Louis, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William and Sophie, Countess of Wessex)
Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo went to the private member’s club Maison Estelle for drinks last night
They were pictured leaving the Maison Estelle private member’s club at 1am last night
Star including Sir David Attenborough, Emma Raducanu, David Beckham and Stephen Fry will also feature, as well as a specially recorded performance from Sir Elton John.
The evening will highlight global themes that have emerged or evolved during the the Queen’s reign including British and Commonwealth contributions in the fields of fashion, sport, the environment and pop music.
The Queen finally got to meet her great-granddaughter Lilibet in a private meeting at Windsor.
It is believed that Harry and Meghan took their children to Windsor Castle to see their great-grandmother soon after they arrived in the UK, given the Queen’s current mobility problems, although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Lilibet was, somewhat controversially, named in tribute to the Queen, whose childhood nickname was Lilibet. It was coined when the then Princess Elizabeth was a toddler in the 1920s and struggled to pronounce her own name properly.
The Queen’s father George VI was quoted as saying of his daughters: ‘Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy.’
The nickname was also used by the monarch’s late husband, Prince Philip, as well as close family and friends.
At the time, many saw the Sussexes’ decision to name their daughter after the Queen as an attempt to emphasise their links with the Royal Family at a time when they were setting up lucrative commercial deals as part of their new independent lives in the US.
Buckingham Palace also became embroiled in a row over whether the Queen was consulted over the name in advance.
The BBC reported that the Sussexes had not asked permission to use the name and that none had been granted.
Prince Harry hugging their son Archie, as Meghan raises Lilibet into the air
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Friday morning, with the Queen noticeably absent
But a spokesman for the couple insisted that Lilibet’s great-grandmother was told in advance and that they would not have used the name had the monarch disapproved of it.
The spokesman said: ‘The duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement – in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called.
‘During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.’
Harry also threatened legal action against the broadcaster, asserting that the claims were ‘false and defamatory’.
Some royal sources have waspishly indicated that there was a world of difference between asking permission and presenting it as a fait accompli.
Meanwhile, palace aides were said to have choreographed timings for the Platinum Jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday to ensure that Prince William and Kate Middleton didn’t bump into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
It was Harry and Meghan’s first royal engagement with senior royals since the frosty Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2020, shortly before they officially stepped down as senior royals for a life in the United States.
But in their first public engagement in two years, the couple sat apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla in the church after royal aides ensured they sat on separate sides of the aisle in a carefully orchestrated plan.
Palace aides were said to have choreographed timings for the Platinum Jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday to ensure Prince William and Kate Middleton (right) didn’t bump into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (left)
In their first public engagement in two years, the Sussexes sat apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla in the church after royal aides ensured they sat on different sides and left separately in a carefully orchestrated plan
As well as the seating arrangements in the cathedral, timings were also carefully considered by Palace aides, with the couple arriving and leaving the service at different times to William and Kate to avoid bumping into each other.
Harry and William have had a long-standing feud, while Harry has accused his father Charles of cutting him off financially and Meghan claimed an unnamed royal made a comment about Archie’s skin tone before he was born – with the Sussexes having a war of words with the Palace following last year’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
Amid the feud, a source said palace aides had been acutely aware of ‘the optics’ – how things would look from the outside – and ensured that the couple were only attending events where there would be minimal interactions with other senior royals in public.
Asked if the Sussexes would appear at any other events over the weekend, particularly with their children, the source said: ‘I really wouldn’t expect them at everything.’
They added: ‘It’s a typically elegant solution as you would expect. The Queen wants her family there and they are still part of it. But in a carefully controlled fashion.’
Elsewhere, Omid Scobie told BBC Breakfast that ‘people close to the couple’ said they ‘wanted to be as low profile as possible during this trip’, while a royal insider said they believed the couple had taken their ‘low-key’ cue from the Queen.
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