Queens Diamond Jubilee 2012 Celebrations

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II serves as the international celebration that happens all throughout 2012. This marks the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the thrones of seven countries upon the death of King George VI, her father on February 6, 1952. Today, she is known as the queen regnant of 16 sovereign states. Twelve of these states were Dominions or British colonies at the beginning of the Queen's reign.
In 1897, Queen Victoria was the only monarch in the histories of Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and other Commonwealth realms who celebrated a Diamond Jubilee. Based on the tradition of jubilees past, events and holidays are held throughout the Commonwealth and a Diamond Jubilee medal is awarded. The plans for the Diamond Jubilee 2012 were discussed during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in London is expected to offer plenty of royal excitement throughout 2012. Essentially, the celebration marks 60 years on the British throne, and there are many events for this 2012.

Permanent Diamond Jubilee Tributes in United Kingdom

The Queen has given Royal Borough status on Greenwich. This is still part of the jubilee celebration. More so, a competition has been already conducted to grant in 2012 city status to towns that has a lord provostship or lord mayoralty status to one city. Chelmsford in England, St. Asaph in Wales and Perth in Scotland has been awarded the city status. Meanwhile, Armagh was given the Lord Mayoralty status. In line with the 2012 London Olympics, the Olympic park in East London has been built. To honor the queen, the park will be officially named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In addition, the Woodland Trust announced plans to built 60 Jubilee woodlands and one of these is going to range about 500 acres. The remaining number would be a size of about 60 acres each.

National Events and Jubilee Celebrations

In relation to the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the palace and some partners have organized a series of events—majority of which are scheduled for the month of June 2012. The Buckingham Palace has previously announced they will host many events on the central weekend of the celebrations to mark the 2012 Jubilee.
The main program of events will happen inbetween June 2nd to 5th. For example, the Big Jubilee lunch will be held on June 2nd in which people will be asked to share lunch with friends and neighbors as part of the celebration. This may be held as a traditional street party or as a simple picnic by local residents in areas around London and the United Kingdom. This Jubilee lunch event is mainly organized and promoted by the Big Lunch run by the Eden Project.
There will also be a BBC Concert at the Buckingham Palace on June 4th, 2012. This will be shown on TV, while the tickets for the actual event are available to UK residents. As of now, the actual musical program for the concert is still pending. Of course, the concert will feature British and Commonwealth musicians. The details on how to apply for tickets to this concert will be announced soon. The concert is mainly organized by the BBC.
There will also be Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons lit to celebrate the 60th Anniversary Jubilee. There are a network of over 3,900 Beacons to be lit by individuals and communities all throughout the lands of the United Kingdom. This will also be done within the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and throughout the Commonwealth. This event is organized by Diamond Jubilee Beacons Ltd.

Other Relevant Events during 2012 in the UK

  • On the actual accession day, there will be a 62-gun salute to be held on the banks of the River Thames.
  • Queen Elizabeth has recently attended a multi-faith reception conducted at Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Catenbury.
  • Similarly, the Queen has addressed both houses of the parliament on March 20, 2012 in Westminster Hall.
  • In March, the Royal Commonwealth Society has also launched the Jubilee Time Capsule. This aims to mark the jubilee celebration.
  • Andrew Marr and the British Broadcasting Corporation produced a documentary called the Diamond Queen. In the said documentary, various members of the Royal Family as well as former and incumbent politicians talked about the sovereign and the Queen's life.
  • Soon, a display of the Queen's Diamond Jewellery collections will be opened at Buckingham Palace.
  • Come June, the bells situated in each of the 34 church bell towers located along the River Wellend valley will be heard in succession.
  • The first big event related to the Jubilee celebration was the Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
  • Also, a cavalcade was held at the Windsor Castle in which there are 550 horses and 1,100 performances from many parts of the world. This symbolizes the Queen's visits to more than 250 countries as well as her passion for horses. The said show was staged on May 10th, 11th and 13th. The Queen graced the last night of the show with her presence.

The Diamond Jubilee 2012 in the United Kingdom is a much-anticipated event not just in the British area, but in other parts of the world as well!