A celebration for the ages! The royal family is gearing up for Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee, and the event is shaping up to be legendary.
“It’s going to be great,” royal expert Nick Bullen exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 24. “The image of the queen on the balcony after Trooping the Colour on the first day of the full weekend — I think that will be a very poignant moment.”
Trooping the Colour is an annual parade that marks the British sovereign’s birthday, but this year it will also commemorate the 96-year-old monarch’s 70 years on the throne. The Jubilee officially kicks off in June, but Bullen said that early events have already been emotional.
When Elizabeth attended the Windsor Horse Show’s “A Gallop Through History” event earlier this month, there was “spontaneous applause” for the matriarch, Bullen recalled.
“People were so thrilled to see her,” the True Royalty TV cofounder told Us. “When she left, there were literally people sobbing around me. There was almost not a dry eye in the house because I think a lot of people were feeling that this might be the last moment they see the queen in person.”
Though the queen officially passed her 70-year mark in February, the country’s four-day Jubilee celebration will begin on June 2 with Trooping the Colour. Earlier this month, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle confirmed that they plan to attend the festivities, but the duo will not stand on the balcony with the rest of the royal family during the parade.
“After careful consideration, the Queen has decided that this year’s traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd of June will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in a statement on May 6.
The Jubilee will mark the first time the Duke of Sussex, 37, and the Bench author, 40, have returned to the U.K. as a couple since their last event as senior royals in March 2020. The pair also plan to bring their children Archie, 3, and Lili, 11 months, along for the celebration.
Despite the Sussex family’s absence on the balcony, however, Bullen believes the parade will be a “dynamite” moment. “All eyes will be on [the queen],” the producer added.
One day after Trooping the Colour, the royal family is expected to attend a Thanksgiving service in honor of Elizabeth held at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Buckingham Palace has not yet announced whether the queen will attend, but Bullen predicts the service “will be a very big moment” if she does.
“The imagery and the symbolism of this relatively small 96-year-old woman in the majesty of [the] cathedral with the music that goes with it?” Bullen reflected. “I think again, you’re gonna have a lot of people reaching for their handkerchiefs.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
