Tom Cruise, Alan Titchmarsh and Dame Helen Mirren are among a cast of stars set to lead the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The A-listers will come together for a live televised event at Windsor Castle which will see performers recreate some of the monarch’s most memorable moments during her 70-year reign.
Announcing the news on Thursday, ITV said unlikely recruits Cruise and Titchmarsh, alongside Damien Lewis and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh, will each host one of four acts of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration, scheduled to be aired by the broadcaster on 15 May.
Other famous guests including Ant & Dec, Sir Mo Farah, Sir Trevor McDonald and Moira Stuart will also be taking part.
The two-hour spectacle, which includes 1300 performers and 500 horses, is expected to cover more than 400 years of royal history, including the reign of Queen Elizabeth I through to the coronation of Her Majesty.
Other key moments explored in the acts include Elizabeth I’s Tilbury Speech and the Gunpowder Plot.
Dame Helen Mirren has been cast to play Queen Elizabeth I while Omid Djalili will play “the Herald”, a narrator who will whisk viewers through time and link the acts together.
The event is set to take place over four nights, from 12-15 May, with royal family members in attendance for each show. ITV will broadcast the final evening, which falls on Sunday.
Music is being provided by a 75-piece orchestra including members of The National Symphony Orchestra, with performances by singers Gregory Porter, Katherine Jenkins and Keala Settle.
While the Queen’s attendance at the event has not been confirmed, it marks the first of a string of planned celebrations as she becomes the first monarch in British history to reach her Platinum Jubilee.
The monarch will commemorate the milestone with a long weekend of festivities in June, including a Platinum Jubilee Pageant through London, a party at Buckingham Palace and the Queen’s birthday parade, Trooping the Colour.
Katie Rawcliffe, head of ITV entertainment commissioning commented: “To mark this momentous occasion, we’ll be bringing the nation a celebratory, star-studded show, complete with show-stopping performances and an epic journey through history, told by some of the most well-renowned and respected names in film and television.”
