The Queen lights up the UK with the jubilee beacons. Video / AP
The Queen has taken centre stage at the lighting of the beacons to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.
Video shows the Queen pressing a button while standing on a red carpet, lighting up a pathway to the Tree of Trees outside Buckingham Palace.
It comes after the news she will not be attending tomorrow's Thanksgiving Service at St Paul's Cathedral due to experiencing "discomfort" amid the celebrations.
💡The Queen leads the lighting of the Principal Beacon at Windsor Castle.
The spectacular @QGCanopy Tree of Trees outside Buckingham Palace will form the Principal Beacon throughout the weekend’s celebrations. pic.twitter.com/JFnGkoja5o
"Taking into account the journey and activity required to participate in tomorrow's National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, Her Majesty with great reluctance has concluded that she will not attend.
"The Queen is looking forward to participating in tonight's Beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle and would like to thank all those who made today such a memorable occasion."
A source told the UK Daily Telegraph said while she had "immensely" enjoyed the first day of Jubilee celebrations, the Queen had experienced the episodic mobility issues she has suffered from recently.
The Queen stepped gingerly onto the Buckingham Palace balcony yesterday, drawing wild cheers from the tens of thousands who came to join her at the start of four days of celebrations of her 70 years on the throne.
Her fans sported Union Jack flags, party hats or plastic tiaras. Some had camped overnight in hope of a glimpse of the 96-year-old, whose appearances are becoming rare, and a chance to watch the Trooping the Colour — a military parade that has marked each sovereign's official birthday since 1760.
It was an explosion of joy in a massive crowd, one of the first big gatherings since the Covid-19 pandemic began more than two years ago.
The Queen basked in her moment. Smiling, she chatted with her great-grandson Prince Louis, 4, who occasionally covered his ears as 70 military aircraft old and new swooped low over the palace. The six-minute display included a formation of Typhoon fighter jets flying in the shape of the number 70.
Britain's Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Photo / AP
The Queen, wearing a dusky dove blue dress designed by Angela Kelly, was joined on the balcony by more than a dozen royals — though not Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who gave up front-line royal duties two years ago. The couple travelled to London from their home in California with their two young children to take a low-key part in the celebrations, and watched the Trooping the Colour with other members of the family.
They did not appear on the palace balcony, because the monarch decided that only working members of the royal family should have that honour. The decision also, handily, excluded Prince Andrew, who stepped away from public duties amid controversy over his links with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew will also miss a service of thanksgiving Friday at St Paul's Cathedral in London after testing positive for Covid-19.
