Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee 2022: Queen says she is 'deeply touched' by jubilee celebration

The queen is the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

Last Updated: June 5, 2022, 2:13 PM EDT

The U.K. threw a once-in-a-generation celebration for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.

The 96-year-old queen is the first British monarch in history to reach a Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.

The queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration included everything from Trooping the Color to a National Service of Thanksgiving, a star-studded concert led by Diana Ross, thousands of lunches and street parties across the country and a final appearance by the queen herself.

Latest updates:

Here is how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Jun 02, 2022, 7:55 AM EDT

Who’s who on the balcony of Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II is holding court on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, where the royal family gathers to watch the military flypast at the end of Trooping the Color.

This year, the queen decided only royal family members who are “undertaking official public duties” on her behalf would appear on the balcony.

The Royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace watch the RAF flypast during the Trooping the Color parade on June 2, 2022 in London.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Those family members include:

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and their children, George, Charlotte and Louis.
Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and their children, Louise and James.
Princess Anne and Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Prince Richard and Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester.
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
Princess Alexandra.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, June 2, 2022.
Alastair Grant/AP

Noticeably absent from the balcony this year because they are no longer senior working royals are the queen’s son, Prince Andrew, and her grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Jun 02, 2022, 7:30 AM EDT

Queen Elizabeth II makes 1st Platinum Jubilee appearance

The woman of the hour, Queen Elizabeth II, made her first appearance of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations during Trooping the Color.

The queen, holding onto a cane, arrived on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside her cousin, the Duke of Kent.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Kent watch from the balcony during the Trooping the Color ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London, June 2, 2022, on the first of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee.
Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP

The queen wore a blue coat and hat designed by Angela Kelly, her personal stylist of more than 20 years. The outfit is the same one the queen wore for her official jubilee portraited, released Wednesday.

For the first time in her 70-year reign, Elizabeth did not take part in the parade and instead took a salute from the cavalry on the balcony.

PHOTO: Queen Elizabeth II during the  Trooping the Colour on the first day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London, June 2, 2022.
Queen Elizabeth II during the Trooping the Colour on the first day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London, June 2, 2022.
Stephen Lock/i-Images/Polaris

She will soon be joined on the balcony by other royal family members to watch the traditional military fly-past.

The queen took part in her first Trooping the Color parade as Princess Elizabeth in 1947.

Jun 02, 2022, 7:28 AM EDT

Kate evokes Princess Diana in Platinum Jubilee look

The Duchess of Cambridge looks like she took a page out of the style book of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

Kate chose a white suit and wide-brimmed black and white hat for her look at Trooping the Color.

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, waves to the public as she arrives on a carriage to attend the Queen's Birthday Parade, the Trooping the Color, as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations, in London, June 2, 2022.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

More than three decades ago, in 1991, Diana also wore a white suit and wide-brimmed black and white hat to a ceremony celebrating the safe return of U.K. soldiers from the Gulf War.

The Princess of Wales at Portsmouth for a ceremony celebrating the safe return of the Royal Hampshire Regiment from the Gulf War, August 1991.
Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images, FILE

Jun 02, 2022, 6:48 AM EDT

Where are Prince Harry and Meghan?

Prince Harry is sixth in line to the British throne but is not playing an active role in this year’s Trooping the Color.

Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stepped down from their roles as senior, working royals in 2020.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend an event on Sept. 25, 2021, in New York City.
NDZ/Getty Images

This year, Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, decided that only royal family members “currently undertaking official public duties” on her behalf would join her at the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Color.

Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, are watching the proceedings with other members of the royal family from the Major General’s Office, an office in Buckingham Palace that overlooks the parade ground, according to their spokesperson.

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