British Queen Elizabeth II becomes first monarch to celebrate platinum Jubilee- See Pics

The celebrations began with the Trooping the Colour, a military parade held annually to mark the queen`s official birthday, where 1,500 soldiers marched to military music in ceremonial uniforms of scarlet tunics and bearskin hats.

 

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Britains longest reigning Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, holding a walking stick and wore a dusky dove blue outfit that she also wore for an official Jubilee photograph.

 

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96-year-old, Queen Elizabeth waved at tens of thousands of royal supporters who were waving flags lined the streets of London for a military parade at the start of the four-day Platinum Jubilee

 

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Some royal family members were absent on Thursday, including the queen`s second son Prince Andrew, 62, who settled a U.S. lawsuit in February in which he was accused of sexually abusing a woman when she was underage. Andrew denied the accusation. The palace announced later that Andrew had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not attend a service of Thanksgiving on Friday.

The queen`s grandson Prince Harry, now living in Los Angeles with his American wife Meghan after stepping down from royal duties, watched the parade but was absent from the palace balcony, with only "working" members of the family present.

 

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Climate change protesters caused a disturbance at a military parade in London at the start of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth`s Platinum Jubilee on Thursday, running out in front of marching soldiers before they were arrested. The activists ran out from behind barriers where tens of thousands of people had gathered on The Mall, the grand boulevard that leads to Buckingham Palace, and lay down in front of a marching band, television footage showed.

 

(Image credit: Reuters)