On Saturday, the third day of the Platinum Jubilee spectacle celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, two future monarchs will pay tribute to her at a spectacular concert in front of Buckingham Palace.
The queen’s son and grandson, Prince Charles and Prince William will speak to a live audience of 22,000 people and millions more on television. The concert, which will feature Alicia Keys, Queen, and Adam Lambert, will be held outside the palace in a makeshift amphitheater created around the Victoria Memorial.
David Beckham and tennis player Emma Raducanu are reportedly expected to attend, with Diana Ross closing the evening with her first live performance in the United Kingdom in 15 years. Elton John is expected to perform a pre-recorded performance during the concert.
The 96-year-old queen is expected to be unable to attend the evening outdoor celebration, which may be hampered by rain. The queen has been having “episodic mobility concerns,” according to the palace, which has limited her public appearances in recent months.
The queen also declined to attend Saturday’s, Epsom Derby. Princess Anne, who appeared in the royal box with her family Saturday amid crowds shouting and waving Union flags, instead represented her at the famed annual horse race.
The queen is well-known for her love of horses, having only missed the Epsom Derby a few times during her long reign. Before the national anthem was performed on Saturday, five of the queen’s previous racehorses were paraded, and 40 jockeys who have ridden for her formed a guard of honor.
“She’s been breeding horses for nearly 60 years,” says the narrator. Frankie Dettori, who lined part of the track with fellow riders, told the BBC that she “knows all the bloodlines, she’s won a lot of races, and she’s very knowledgeable.”
“I’m sure she’ll locate a TV today and watch it live,” he said, adding that “she loves the Derby so much.”
It was the second day in a row that the queen’s mobility limitations prevented people from seeing her.
The queen skipped a special Thanksgiving ceremony held in her honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Friday. Officials from Buckingham Palace said she had felt “some discomfort” at activities the day before, including waving to large crowds from Buckingham Palace.
Nearly 50 members of the royal family gathered at St. Paul’s on Friday to honor the absent head of state. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were among them. It was the couple’s first public appearance in the United Kingdom since they retired from royal duties two years ago and relocated to California.
Royal accounts on Twitter wished Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet a happy one-year birthday in yet another evidence of warming relations. Lilibet celebrated her first birthday on Saturday. She and her older brother, Archie, have yet to show up on this journey.
The Royal Family account tweeted, “Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!”
Meanwhile, other members of the royal family visited Wales and Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom’s celebrations.
William and Kate sent two of their three children to Cardiff Castle in Wales, Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 7, for a separate concert on the castle grounds in honor of the queen.
Prince Edward, the queen’s youngest son, and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, went to a 1950s-themed seaside funfair in Belfast. Edward tried his hand at pouring a pint of Guinness in a café, while Sophie watched a dance lesson from the 1950s and 1960s.
