Ed Sheeran heads a star-studded bill of 100 "national treasures" to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Mirror reports. The music superstar will lead tributes to Her Majesty in a open-top bus pageant in June.
Each bus will represent a decade of the Queen's reign, with the likes of legendary singer Sir Cliff Richard, Olympic heroes Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and former England footballer and broadcaster Gary Lineker among other celebrities to take part. Others confirmed to be taking part throughout the day include actor Jeremy Irons, comedian Bill Bailey and childhood favourite Basil Brush along a specially designed route as part of the pageant.
Comedian Rosie Jones, para-athlete Kadeena Cox, broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh, top chefs Heston Blumenthal and James Martin and fashion icon Gok Wan have also signed up for the extravaganza. Music legend Dame Shirley Bassey and British supermodel Kate Moss are set for other leading roles in the show.
Organisers have promised a showpiece like no other, with hundreds of talented performers joining forces to celebrate the Queen’s historic reign. Coventry-based Imagineer are creating a “pedal powered” act in the celebratory part of the Pageant titled The Queen’s Loves.
There will be ponies, racehorses, swans and misbehaving corgis creating comic chaos along The Mall. It features the Cyclopedia and Critical Mass, a team of disabled and able-bodied dancers that performed at The Commonwealth Games.
Also featured will be Godiva, a six-metre high puppet, redressed as the young Queen with a platinum crown and work from Coventry University students. Isle of Wight-based Shademakers are creating The Queen’s Beasts act.
Four sections will represent the Four Nations or Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, led by lions in their region’s heraldry. The Scottish section has unicorns, Scottish dancers, bagpipes and drums from MacUmba, a Scottish band.
The English section has swans, peacocks, ravens, falcons and dancing roses. The Welsh section has a dragon, chickens, pigs and sheep. The Northern Irish section features a snake, an Irish Wolfhound and a bull.
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