The Queen has launched her Platinum Jubilee celebrations with a message to the UK that it can look to the future with "confidence and enthusiasm".
As she expressed gratitude to the UK and the Commonwealth, the Queen said the occasion was a chance to reflect on what has been achieved during her 70-year reign, as well as for new "happy memories" to be created by all.
As the four-day bank holiday begins on Thursday, the 96-year-old will lead the Royal family and the nation in the celebrations.
Having paced herself carefully to overcome episodic mobility problems that have left her in discomfort, she hopes to take a full part in the first day's events, from Trooping the Colour to a high-tech beacon-lighting ceremony from Windsor Castle.
The Royal family will assemble in full, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returning to Britain and set to watch the parade alongside other non-working members of the family.
Crowds were already lining the Mall on Wednesday in anticipation.
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A new photograph issued on Wednesday to mark Britain's first Platinum Jubilee shows the Queen smiling from a cushioned window seat at Windsor, wearing a dove blue coat with shiny pearl and diamante scalloped beading.
The image - more relaxed than previous jubilee photographs, in which the monarch has been dressed in full regalia complete with a crown or tiara and sash - captures the Queen looking comfortable and content, with her hands folded in her lap.
In a personal message released on Wednesday night, she said: "Thank you to everyone who has been involved in convening communities, families, neighbours and friends to mark my Platinum Jubilee, in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth.
"I know that many happy memories will be created at these festive occasions.
"I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm."
An estimated one billion people around the world are expected to watch the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, with hundreds of thousands of participants and royalists set to join street parties and watch a pageant.
On Thursday, the Royal family will be out in force for Trooping the Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade. Given her age, the Queen will take a modified role at Buckingham Palace for her comfort. The Duke of York will not be present.
The Prince of Wales will stand in for her during the full military spectacle at Horse Guards Parade, inspecting the troops, accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal on horseback. The Queen will take a royal salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, as the Household Division comes to her.
The Queen's message is intended as a simple one of celebration, wishing the public a happy bank holiday.
It complements her written message sent for Accession Day on February 6, the moment she officially passed 70 years on the throne.
Then, she renewed her pledge first made in 1947, "that my life will always be devoted to your service".
Since then, she has made significant adjustments to continue her working life, handing duties over to the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge.
Her Platinum Jubilee photograph was taken by Ranald Mackechnie, who has previously taken two portraits of the Queen. They included her heirs the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George.
The new image was taken in the Victoria Vestibule at Windsor Castle last week. It shows the castle's Round Tower in the background, with a blurred statue of King Charles II.
On Thursday, following Trooping the Colour, the Queen will return to Windsor for a night-time ceremony during which she will symbolically light the principal jubilee beacon, as part of a dual ceremony with her grandson the Duke of Cambridge.
She will touch a blue "commonwealth of nations globe", placed on a blue and gold cushion, which will trigger a cascade of chasing lights from Windsor to London - ending 22 miles away at Buckingham Palace.
There, the Duke of Cambridge will watch as the "tree of trees", a sculpture made up of 350 native trees, will light up - the crowning moment of a 3000-strong sequence of beacons around the Commonwealth.
On Wednesday, Princess Eugenie paid the first family tribute to her grandmother. The Princess said she hoped her one-year-old son, August, would have the Queen's "patience, her calmness and her kindness while always being able to laugh at himself and keep a twinkle in his eye".
The remainder of the jubilee weekend will include a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral for the Queen's reign. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as the Duke of York, are expected to attend.
On Saturday, the BBC will broadcast an all-star concert from outside Buckingham Palace. On Sunday, millions of people will gather for patriotic street parties, picnics and barbecues before a pageant through the streets of London, with a cast of 6000 performers and close to 200 celebrities joining the procession.
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