This year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, BBC World News, BBC World Service and BBC.com will be offering their global audience comprehensive coverage of the build up to Jubilee weekend, the official celebrations in London and how communities across the UK and the Commonwealth are marking the Platinum Jubilee over four days – with all the pomp, pageantry, and parties.
Former BBC World News America anchor Katty Kay will return to front the coverage on BBC World News. Katty said, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the world to come together and celebrate seven remarkable decades of Queen Elizabeth II’s service to the UK and Commonwealth and I’m excited that I’ll be at the heart of the action, bringing on-the-ground coverage to our audiences across the world.”
The coverage includes:
BBC WORLD NEWS
Thursday 2nd June
Platinum Jubilee: Trooping the Colour
We will be live outside Buckingham Palace where we will look ahead to the weekend’s events. The first of the festivities will be Trooping the Colour (The Queen’s Birthday Parade), consisting of 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians who will be joined by Royal Family members on horseback and in carriages. The Royal Family will also gather on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. TX times: 10:00-13:15 BST
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: BBC News Special
An hour long special by presenter Katty Kay. Not only will we be looking back at the day and forward to the rest of the weekend, but we will also include interviews with royal watchers, people partaking in the events, and members of the public – plus, we will share feature material about the Queen’s reign. TX times: 20:00-21:00 BST
Platinum Beacons: Lighting up the Jubilee
The United Kingdom has a long-standing tradition of lighting beacons to celebrate Royal Weddings, Coronations and Jubilees. The channel will be broadcasting the lighting of the Platinum Jubilee Beacons where thousands of candles will be lit by charities and community groups across the UK. A total of 54 Commonwealth beacons will be lit (one in each Commonwealth capital city), and the principal beacon will also be lit – an illumination of a “tree of trees” sculpture at Buckingham Palace. TX times: 21:00-22:00 BST
BBC World News America: Special Edition
Katty Kay will present a special on-location edition of BBC World News America. TX times: 22:00-22:25 BST
Friday 3rd June
Platinum Jubilee: A Service of Thanksgiving
A service of Thanksgiving will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. We will be broadcasting outside of Saint Paul’s in the morning, moving back to Buckingham Palace in the afternoon. (Please note the channel will not be broadcasting live footage of the service due to rights restrictions). TX times: 10:00-12:30 BST
BBC World News America: Special Edition
Katty Kay will present a special on-location edition of BBC World News America. TX times: 22:00-22:25 BST
Saturday 4th June
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: BBC News Special
An hour long special presented by Katty Kay, looking back at all of the day’s highlights. TX times: 17:00-18:00 BST
Sunday 5th June
The Big Jubilee Lunch
The focus of the final day of celebrations is on The Big Jubilee Lunch. Over ten million people in the UK are expected to join the celebrations, with events including world record attempts for the longest street party. The occasion will be marked internationally too, with over 600 lunches planned throughout the Commonwealth and beyond – from South Africa to Canada. As part of the events, BBC World News will be coming to you live from street parties around the UK. This special coverage will be presented by Annita McVeigh and Martine Croxall. TX times:
TBC
The Platinum Pageant
BBC World News will be broadcasting from the street as The Platinum Pageant brings together artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers who will unite to tell the story of The Queen’s 70 year reign in an awe-inspiring festival of creativity. The Pageant will draw on talent from every part of the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth.
BBC WORLD SERVICE
BBC World Service will broadcast A Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s Reign (3rd June) live from St Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of the celebrations across the extended UK Bank Holiday weekend to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen. Commentator Eleanor Oldroyd describes the scene as senior members of the Royal Family and representatives from across the UK and Commonwealth gather in the Cathedral to celebrate and give thanks for The Queen becoming the longest-reigning British Monarch after 70 years of service.
BBC World Service will also be marking the Jubilee with two 1-hour documentaries. The Royal Diplomat (28th May) sees the BBC’s Emma Barnett speak to friends and insiders who have worked with the Queen on global issues and seen her in operation, including David Cameron and former Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku. The second documentary, The Day I Met the Queen (4th June) is a special programme in which Winifred Robinson hears stories from people who have met the Queen at various moments during her long life, and recall their encounters.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall will appear on The Cultural Frontline (4th June) on the BBC World Service about The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition, which is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools. In an interview with Tina Daheley, the Duchess speaks about the Platinum Jubilee and says that she hopes this year writers will pick up on Jubilee content because it’s so important to celebrate this Jubilee, as it is “an amazing amount of years for The Queen to have been on the throne.”
BBC.COM
There will be a rich variety of Jubilee pieces in a special section on the news front page of BBC.com over four days from 1-4 June, along with a range of in-depth analysis pieces from the BBC’s world-class correspondents.
These will include a visual journey through the Queen’s time on the throne, a deep appraisal of her reign and an appreciation of her loyal companions, the corgis. There will also be a number of featured pieces on BBC Culture including:
Why the Queen is the last royal icon: A written feature about how Her Majesty The Queen is represented in art, and why she is probably the last royal who will ever be able to be so well-recognised yet so inscrutable.
The imaginary lives of the Queen: A feature exploring the idea of how fiction (plus some film and TV) depicts various interpretations of the Queen, since her actual self is largely hidden and unknown. The piece will look at how these depictions reflect our own feelings about the monarch and the monarchy.
The Queen’s iconic style moments (2 June): A piece structured around eight outfits from the past eight decades with one photo per decade which is particularly iconic, from the 1950s onwards. The piece will look at the outfit and analyse what it signifies, what the Queen is aiming to achieve with it, what it says about her, and what it says about royalty and society in that moment of time.