Platinum Jubilee crowds were treated to the sight of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children taking part in their first carriage procession as historic celebrations marking the Queen’s 70-year reign began.
Cheers went up from thousands of spectators on The Mall as they caught sight of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with proud parent Kate and the Duchess of Cornwall.
The nation is embracing the special extended bank holiday weekend of pomp, pageantry and star-studded festivities, which will see celebrities and the public gather in their millions in tribute to the monarch.
Thousands of wellwishers draped in Union flags, party hats and plastic tiaras flocked to central London for the Trooping spectacle.
The young Cambridges and the duchesses’ carriage, known as a barouche, was followed by another carrying the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise Mountbatten Windsor and Viscount Severn.
George, Charlotte and Louis smiled and waved enthusiastically as they sat in a row, with Louis the youngest in the middle of his older siblings.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Princess Royal’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence processed in the final carriage.
On horseback at the rear in their uniforms were the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal, resplendent in their military regalia – including their new Platinum Jubilee medals.
The Queen, meanwhile, was watching from Buckingham Palace, waiting to take a salute from the balcony accompanied by her cousin the Duke of Kent, Colonel of the Scots Guards, when the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the Guards make their way back from the parade ground.
The jubilee monarch, now 96, is facing ongoing mobility issues and opted to stay at her royal residence.
The once-in-a-lifetime jubilee celebrations will see members of the monarchy, celebrities from the UK and across the globe, and people from all parts of the UK gather to recognise the Queen’s legacy over the weekend.
The Queen will return to the balcony for a second time on Thursday, accompanied by working royals and the Cambridge children, to watch a fly-past of aircraft by the Royal Air Force.
A service of thanksgiving will be held at St Paul’s on Friday, while Epsom Derby Day is on Saturday, and that evening Queen + Adam Lambert and Diana Ross headline the BBC’s Party at the Palace.
On the final day, revellers will take to the streets of London for the Jubilee Pageant, that will see each decade of the monarch’s reign celebrated with “national treasures” puppets, dancers and music.
