Agencies/Epsom/London
Queen Elizabeth II received a rapturous welcome from a flag-waving crowd of more than 100,000 at a British racecourse yesterday as she kicked off four days of national celebrations for her diamond jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip view horses in the parade ring at the Epsom Derby festival in Epsom
Gun salutes rang out across the country before the 86-year-old queen arrived for the Epsom Derby, smiling broadly as she and husband Prince Philip, 90, were driven past the winning post, amid cheers from well-wishers.
In a surge of enthusiasm for the monarchy across Britain, thousands of people paraded through the town of Perth in Scotland for the jubilee, many held community parties, and villages competed to create the longest stretch of bunting.
Crowds even turned out to watch military bands rehearse in London ahead of the main celebrations marking the queen’s 60 years on the throne, support for the royals at its highest level in decades.
A recent poll showed about 80% of Britons want the country to stay a monarchy.
At the racecourse just outside London, bookmaker Diane Barrett said: “It’s a very special year. It’s never going to be like this again.”
Unexpected sunshine broke out, to more cheers from the 130,000 racegoers, as the queen, a keen rider and racehorse owner, watched the races from a balcony garlanded with flowers.
Paratroopers descended to the racecourse trailing huge Union Jack flags and red smoke ahead of the couple’s arrival with sons Andrew and Edward, young princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and other members of the royal family. The queen wore royal blue and her trademark matching hat with flowers.
Soldiers of the Honourable Artillery Company fire blank rounds during a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London in front of Tower Bridge yesterday to mark the start of diamond jubilee weekend celebrations
As Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins sang the national anthem, Buckingham Palace posted on Twitter: “And we’re off! The #diamondjubilee weekend begins.”
Queen Elizabeth presented the 110-year-old Coronation Cup, renamed the Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup for the occasion, to the team behind winning horse St Nicholas Abbey, which also won the race last year.
But the showpiece of the day was Britain’s richest race, the Epsom Derby, won by favourite Camelot. The queen was informed of a less lucky result for her own horse Set To Music, which came second in racing at Haydock Park in northwest England.
Rachel Molloy, 28, a singer from London, said over strawberries and champagne, “We waved to her and it was very exciting because we’ve never seen the queen this close. She looked happy.”
“I just want to see the queen,” said Chinese student Adora Lin, 22, from the factory mega-city of Shenzhen, who had bought a new hat for the occasion. “I’m not going to bet. I just want to see how people dress up and celebrate.”
People were already camping in tents beside the Thames river ahead of a pageant of about 1,000 boats that will sail through London today, with the queen in a royal barge decked with 10,000 flowers.
Prince William and wife Catherine - whose 2011 wedding drew 2bn TV viewers and was credited with reviving public interest in the royals - will join the queen in the procession.
“There is huge excitement. The queen has done a terrific job in the past 60 years,” said Andrew Phasey, whose canal narrowboat will be part of the pageant. “We feel hugely privileged to be taking part. It will be a terrific day.”
Britons have planned more than 9,500 street parties for today, although there are concerns about forecasts of heavy rain.
Some 4,000 beacons will be lit tomorrow across the Commonwealth following a huge picnic and star-studded concert at Buckingham Palace.
Tuesday, which like Monday is a public holiday, will be devoted to ceremonial events including a thanksgiving service and carriage procession.
Shops across Britain were doing a brisk trade in Union Jack accessories, commemorative china, masks of the royals and jubilee garden gnomes.
In Northern Ireland, even Republican party Sinn Fein has supported celebrations and backed the province’s gift to the queen for the occasion.
Festivities are set to be more muted across the Commonwealth, mostly made up of former British colonies, but British soldiers were pictured in Afghanistan serving celebratory tea from a gold-coloured teapot.
The queen acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father King George VI while she was away in Kenya, and was crowned the following year on June 2, amid massive public enthusiasm despite heavy rain.
Only one monarch has celebrated a diamond jubilee before - Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother Victoria in 1897.
“I would have stood there in the pouring rain to have sung that, it was such an honour,” said Jenkins.”This is definitely a day I will never forget. There’s such a sense of celebration in the air, everybody’s really proud and happy and, I think, inspired by this.”
To royalists, the jubilee is a chance to express their appreciation of a woman who acceded to the throne on the death of her father George VI, and is the oldest British monarch.
For others, the chance of some extra days off work and to enjoy the sort of public ceremony for which Britain is renowned has made the jubilee a welcome break from austere times, pay freezes and public spending cuts.
Republicans hope the occasion marks the last hurrah of what they say is a dying anachronism they estimate costs the taxpayer up to £200mn ($307mn) a year.
About 1mn people are expected to travel to London for the flotilla alone, but not all will be cheering for the queen - banner-waving republicans plan to protest at Tower Bridge during the flotilla.
Police said the weekend would include the largest-ever royal security operation. About 13,000 officials including around 6,000 police officers will be on duty for the Thames pageant.
Racegoers in top hats and tailcoats packed the grandstands at the Epsom Downs racecourse while regular punters joined in the fun, waving flags and toasting the occasion with champagne.
Gazebos were covered in bunting, while food stalls did a roaring trade and music blared out as people whizzed through the air at a funfair.
Despite her age, the sovereign is still a regular rider.
Epsom racecourse chairman Anthony Cane said: “She’s incredibly knowledgeable. Her knowledge of thoroughbreds and breeding goes way back. She’s absolutely amazing.”
Open-top buses filled the enclosure - one with a cardboard cut-out of the queen watching from the upper deck.
A cheer went up as the sun came out despite forecasts of clouds and rain, leaving people reaching for their hats.
The Derby is the only one of the five English classics - the 2,000 Guineas, the 1,000 Guineas, the Epsom Oaks, the Derby and the St. Leger - that Queen Elizabeth has never won.
The closest she got was in 1953, when, just four days after her coronation, she came down to Epsom and saw Aureole finish second.
The last reigning monarch to have a Derby winner was her great-grandfather king Edward VII with Minoru in 1909.