A Right Royal Knees Up~Part two

The concert on Monday night had something for everyone.  Ten thousand people who won tickets in the lottery were invited to sit around the stadium constructed just for the concert around the Queen Victoria memorial in front of the Palace.  We were not one of the lucky ones so we watched the concert on screens in Hyde Park.  Shirley Bassey, Renee Fleming, Elton John, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder were just a few of the artists that performed.  The entire concert ended with Paul McCartney singing Let It Be.  This was followed by spectacular fireworks from the Palace which we could see from Hyde Park. 

a few of the giant screens in Hyde Park

Stage being built  around the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace

The Cenotaph Memorial

Tuesday was the day of the Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Cathedral followed by a car procession down Whitehall, with the Royal Family having lunch at Westminster Hall at Parliament.  After lunch they would come back up Whitehall in carriages, around Trafalgar Square and down The Mall to Buckingham Palace for a balcony scene and a fly past of  RAF jets. Those of us in our group that were still standing by Tuesday decided that the best place to get a front row spot was on Whitehall. The Mall was predicted to be mobbed with people, so we thought standing along Whitehall might be a chance to grab a front row spot.  After many hours of waiting, here is what we saw!

Our chosen spot was in front of the Cenotaph Memorial. This was a memorial to those who died in World War I and it later included those who died in World War II.   As all of the marching units and horse units passed, they saluted the memorial.  The men of the Royal Family took off their hats as they passed. 

Harry, Camilla and Charles passing us as they made their way to the luncheon at Parliament

This is one of the units saluting as they pass the Cenotaph Memorial.  These are the Coldstream Guards because their buttons are in pairs and they have a red plume on the right side of their bearskins. Their motto is- Nulli Secundus-"Second to None"

This man in the middle was our very friendly policeman who kindly moved when carriages came by so we could get better pictures.  We had quite a long wait so he kept us entertained with stories of where he had worked during the Jubilee weekend.

This rider is from The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery which is a ceremonial unit of the British Army. It is a mounted unit and all of it's soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era state saluting guns.  For the Diamond Jubilee they fired a gun salute on June 2 and a 60 gun salute from Horse Guards Parade on June 5th during the carriage procession.

                            Saluting at The Cenotaph

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          The Queen rode in her car after the Service of Thanksgiving to the lunch at Westminster Hall.

 
The Processional Route was lined with more than 1,000 personnel from all three Services. It was an impressive sight.  

After the car procession passed, we waited for a few more hours until the Royal Family  came back down Whitehall from Parliament.  

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment-The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals- provided a Sovereign's Escort ahead of the carriage procession back to Buckingham Palace.

                           The Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry rode ahead of the procession. 

The carriage with Harry and Kate and Prince William came next.  Harry is on the opposite side of Kate and William.

It wasn't hard to know when the Queen's carriage was coming down the street. The carriage was the 1902 Landau built for King Edward VII. It's the same carriage that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned from after their wedding in 2011.  Normally Prince Phillip would have been beside the Queen but since he was in the hospital, Camilla rode beside her and Prince Charles opposite them. 

Charles takes his hat off while passing the Cenotaph Memorial. 

While we were waiting for the festivities, the Service of Thanksgiving was broadcast from St. Paul's Cathedral for all to hear.  The Service of Thanksgiving included the Cathedral Choir and the Choir of the Chapels Royal as well as the "Diamond Choir", which was comprised of  40 children from all over the country singing "The Call of Wisdom" an anthem that was specially composed for the service.  I imagine it will become a popular anthem for youth choirs to sing.    I couldn't help but record God Save the Queen as a way to capture a small part of this amazing weekend.