The Queen has returned to Windsor from Sandringham and will attend a service of thanksgiving for the life of the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey on March 29, sources have said.
As well as the service for the duke, it is understood the Queen will attend a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2 and the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14.
The 95-year-old is also expected to be resuming other duties such as audiences, credentials and privy council meetings which will be held in person and virtually.
The report came as The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations began with a bang today (Monday, February 7), as gun salutes were fired across the country to mark her 70-year reign.
At noon the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, named by the Queen’s father King George VI, 75 years ago, fired a 41-gun salute from London’s Green Park.
Events will be held over the coming year in honour of the Queen, who at the weekend renewed her 1947 pledge to the nation and Commonwealth “that my life will always be devoted to your service”.
The extended four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend will begin on Thursday June 2 with Trooping the Colour, which will be staged in full for the first time since the pandemic.
A service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral the following day.
Other highlights include a day at the races for the Queen and her family, who will fill the royal box for the Derby, held at Epsom Downs on the Saturday.
Later that day a star-studded concert will be staged from Buckingham Palace.
Communities across the country will sit down together for the Big Jubilee Lunch on the Sunday, the final day of the Bank Holiday weekend, and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant will also be held in the capital, featuring more than 5,000 people from across the UK and Commonwealth.
