The Queen will be watching the service at St Paul's on Television from Windsor Castle after experiencing 'discomfort' during Thursday's parade, it has been announced. She is expected to rest at her Berkshire residence while guests begin to file into St Paul's Cathedral ahead of the morning service. Among the crowd will be Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who was greeted with cheers as he arrived.
Yesterday, Buckingham Palace released a statement regarding the Queen's health during the jubilee celebrations. It read: "The Queen greatly enjoyed today's Birthday Parade and Flypast but did experience some discomfort.
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"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 service at St Paul's Cathedral will be lead by Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mulally, who told BBC Breakfast: "I’m excited, I think.” She noted that she was nervous about sporting the ceremonial regalia for the event.
She added: "It’s a coat called the George V coat. It’s quite an old coat, which is a cape and it sits on me, but of course it was designed for men because I’m the first woman who happens to be the Bishop of London. So, it doesn’t sit quite as well on me, so I’m slightly nervous.”
The Dean of St Paul's similarly spoke positively of the Queen and thanked her for her years of service. The Very Revd Dr David Ison told BBC Breakfast: "I think, for me, what this service is about, is saying not only thank you, but also we are picking up the baton of what The Queen has done. We ourselves are committing to how we can make the world a better place.”
He said of the service: “I always get nervous. You can’t help it because you want it to go well and therefore you’re nervous to make sure it does goes well and worried about what might go wrong.”
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