THE QUEEN WILL LEAD THE LIGHTING OF THE PRINCIPAL PLATINUM JUBILEE BEACON
Thursday, 2nd June 2022
Her Majesty The Queen will lead the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon on Thursday evening from Windsor Castle. The Queen will take part in the special dual ceremony with the Duke of Cambridge, who will represent Her Majesty at the Principal Beacon in central London.
The Principal Beacon for the Platinum Jubilee takes the form of a lighting installation involving The Queen’s Green Canopy ‘Tree of Trees’ sculpture, and will be accompanied by projections of archive photographs onto the front of Buckingham Palace. Placing the ‘Tree of Trees’ at the heart of the beacon lighting reflects the Royal Family’s long history of championing environmental causes and will pay a fitting tribute to Her Majesty’s 70 years of service to the nation.
At Windsor Castle, the Queen will arrive in the Quadrangle for the lighting ceremony from the Sovereign’s Entrance. Her Majesty’s arrival will be signalled by a trumpet fanfare, before the Queen is received by Bruno Peek LVO OBE, who has overseen the Platinum Jubilee Beacons Project.
Simultaneously, outside Buckingham Palace, the Duke of Cambridge will meet the Chair of The Queen’s Green Canopy, Sir Nicholas Bacon, and the designer of the ‘Tree of Trees’, Thomas Heatherwick, to hear about how the sculpture was created.
Schoolchildren who have taken part in The Queen’s Green Canopy Junior Forester Award will also be present, as well as young leaders from Scouts, Girlguiding and the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, who have all been involved with the Platinum Jubilee Beacons Project.
At Windsor, watched by Her Majesty, the Commonwealth Globe of Nations – specially created for the Beacons Project and displayed publicly at the Tower of London since April – will then be placed on a podium by representatives of the Yeoman Warders. Her Majesty will then proceed to the podium, and with a symbolic touch on the globe, the Queen will trigger the beginning of the lighting of the Principal Beacon outside Buckingham Palace.
Prompted by Her Majesty’s touch on the globe, the lighting sequence will travel from Windsor to London, beginning with lights chasing along the Quadrangle towards Windsor Castle’s Round Tower, before travelling up the ‘Tree of Trees’ in London.
Once the beacon is lit, the Duke of Cambridge will watch as the London Community Gospel Choir and singer Gregory Porter sing the official Beacons song, A Life Lived with Grace, in honour of Her Majesty The Queen.
Platinum Jubilee Beacons
On the evening of Thursday 2nd June 2022, more than three thousand beacons will be lit by charities, community and faith groups throughout the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Overseas Territories. Beacons will be lit by groups and young leaders throughout all 54 Commonwealth countries including cities, capitals, across five continents, to celebrate the Queen’s service to the people of the Commonwealth. Starting with Tonga and Samoa, beacons will be lit in Australasia and the Pacific region before moving through Asia and onto the 19 African Commonwealth member states to continue in Europe, and finish in the Caribbean and Americas.
The Commonwealth of Nations Globe
The Commonwealth of Nations Globe has been created as a symbol representing the Queen’s previous Jubilees. It is made from silver, gold, diamonds and platinum. The Globe itself is mounted on a cushion and surrounded by a Crown. The stones in the Crown signify the coming together of the four nations of the United Kingdom in celebration of the jubilee and were collected from the top of the four highest peaks – Mount Snowdon, Wales; Ben Nevis, Scotland; Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland, and Scafell Pike, England. Since mid-April, the globe has been displayed in the White Tower at the Tower of London for members of the public to view.
The Queen’s Green Canopy Tree of Trees
The living sculpture seeks to put the importance of trees and nature at the heart of this historic milestone to celebrate Her Majesty, who has planted over 1,500 trees throughout the world during the course of her 70-year reign. Made up of 350 trees, the sculpture is symbolic of over a million trees already planted as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy during the first planting season.
After the jubilee weekend, the 350 trees in their special pots will be gifted to selected community groups and individuals to celebrate their work and inspire the next generation of tree planters across the nation. The trees will be distributed evenly across the UK in proportion to the population. The QGC is working closely with Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenants in each county on the selection process, with priority given to those seeking to create a cleaner, greener environment which will work towards a living legacy for the Platinum Jubilee.
