On Thursday, June 2, Queen Elizabeth II began public celebrations of her Platinum Jubilee, a celebration of her 70 years as the queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The main celebrations occurred in London, outside of Buckingham Palace, and crowds roared in honor of the celebration.

An aircraft flyover, with the British flag colors, coloured the skies of London. People were packed tightly in the crowd and strained their necks to see the sights above.

The Metropolitan Police Service monitored the crowds who had not paid for a raffle ticket to enter the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace. A raffle ticket had to be purchased to attend the Platinum Party because many people wanted to attend and the whole country couldn’t fit within the parameters of Buckingham Palace.

Central London is always beautiful, but it was wonderful to see the ancient buildings decorated with British flags. The police on their horses were also magnificent, parading the pride of the British public.

The Queen has had four jubilees. The Silver jubilee in 1977, which marked the 25th anniversary of her coronation, followed by the golden (50 years), diamond (60 years) and sapphire jubilees (75 years). The Queen has been on the throne since Feb. 6, 1952.

Elizabeth became the queen after her father, King George VI passed away. Often, people discuss how noble and honest the queen is because she was never supposed to be queen.

London Underground, the trains which run through London (like the New York City subway), also built the new Elizabeth line in commemoration of the Platinum Jubilee.

The color of the line is purple, which serves as a symbol of royalty to fit the celebration. The Platinum Jubilee is a time to celebrate the queen and all her achievements since she took the throne.

Street parties occurred in the rest of the country, in which neighborhoods would eat together while dining amongst British flags. The whole country celebrated with the queen.

Once the queen passes, her son Charles will take the throne and become the king of England. Charles is currently the Prince of Wales and his son the Duke of Cambridge will take his place once he passes. 24 royal members are in the line of succession to become sovereign so there will always be room on the throne.

The following link will take you to a live recording of the Jubilee events.