Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee kicks off with pomp

LONDON (AP) — Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne have kicked off with formal celebrations for the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

First came the Trooping the Color ceremony, with military horses and flags. Then the queen joined members of her family Thursday on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as 70 planes flew overhead. The 96-year-old Elizabeth is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to serve for seven decades. During a four-day holiday weekend, thousands of street parties are planned around the country. Thousands of people, some of whom camped overnight, lined the parade route — many of them sporting Union Jack flags, party hats or plastic tiaras.

One woman arrived her daughter, saying she had come “to make memories.”

PHOTO INFO: Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, as they watch a flypast of Royal Air Force aircraft pass over, Thursday June 2, 2022, on the first of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee. The events over a long holiday weekend in the U.K. are meant to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years of service. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)

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