Platinum Jubilee: Thousands Line London’s Street For Star-Studded Pageant

A huge pageant celebrating the final day of the Jubilee is under way in London, as thousands across the country come together for street parties.

The star-studded carnival, featuring vintage cars, puppets and Daleks, is processing towards Buckingham Palace. The show will culminate in 200 celebrities joining Ed Sheeran in a mass rendition of God Save The Queen.

The Queen is at Buckingham Palace, and may appear on the balcony to round off the celebrations. However, a planned flypast by the Red Arrows has been cancelled due to poor weather.

The pageant began with a military parade with personnel from the UK’s armed forces and from across the Commonwealth.

The Queen appeared as a hologram inside the Gold State Coach – the 260-year-old carriage which carried to the Queen to her coronation in 1953.

Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George were all watching from the royal box.

Next came celebrities in colourful open-top double-decker buses depicting the different decades of the Queen’s reign.

Cliff Richard sang atop a 1950s bus, while Alan Titchmarsh rode on the 1960s bus.

There was a peloton of 300 cyclists on bikes of all shapes and sizes, led by the Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy.

They were followed by a parade of vintage cars – a fleet of Morris Minors in various vivid colours drove up The Mall.

And later, a collection of cars from the James Bond films drew massive cheers as they made their way along at a very slow pace.

TV personalities, musicians, chefs, sportspeople, designers, and artists who have helped shape British culture of the last 70 years are taking part.

The 1970s section saw a massive rainbow flag carried up The Mall, and an Abba float. The Trotters’ Robin Reliant from sitcom Only Fools and Horses and people dressed as video game character PacMan illustrated the 80s, while the 90s saw Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss dancing on a bus.

Fashion consultant Gok Wan and celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal were among those representing the 2000s, along with Sir Mo Farah and Dame Kelly Holmes.

TV personality Holly Willoughby described the Queen as the “most incredible, amazing iconic lady” as she rode on the bus representing the 2010s.

The pageant then saw street theatre acts and urban dance from groups across the UK. A number of enormous animal puppets depicting swans, a bull, snakes, ravens and a rainbow peacock then moved along the route.

Next came a big Bollywood wedding party, with dancers parading an enormous tiered cake topped with a number of corgis.

Puppets of African animals – including elephants, giraffes and flamingos brought a tropical feel and the Notting Hill section saw colourful flowers, drummers and acrobatics.

The grand finale will see a mass singing of the national anthem outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Stars including Diana Ross, George Ezra, Queen and Elbow performed in front of a crowd of around 22,000, and an average of 11.2 million people in the UK watched the show.

The Queen, who has been experiencing mobility problems in recent months, was not able to attend the event herself. But she kicked off the event with a pre-filmed comedy sketch showing her sharing a pot of tea with Paddington Bear, where they both confessed to carrying around a marmalade sandwich.

Away from Buckingham Palace, some 10 million people have been holding Big Jubilee Lunches, picnics and barbecues, across the UK.

Charles and Camilla began the final day of celebrations marking the Queen’s 70-year reign by meeting guests at a street party in south London.

They inspected tables strung with union jack bunting and laden with cakes before meeting people taking part.