Up and down the country hundreds of thousands more will take to streets adorned in red, white and blue "Union Jack" flags for diamond jubilee parties to honour the second British monarch to mark the milestone. The only other was her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria in , and while Britain is no longer a superpower whose empire straddles the globe, surveys show the royal family is enjoying its strongest public support in decades.
The Saturday-to-Tuesday holiday comes just over a year after the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, an extravaganza of pomp and pageantry that led news bulletins the world over and boasted a global audience of up to two billion people. The queen kicked off the jubilee celebrations with a visit on Saturday to the Epsom Derby in southern England, indulging her life-long passion for horse racing, and a special gun salute boomed from the historic Tower of London.
Madness are set to take to the roof of the famous landmark to belt out hit song "Our House". The long weekend concludes with a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday followed by a carriage procession along the broad Mall leading to Buckingham Palace where the queen will wave to the crowds from the balcony. Paul's Cathedral, a carriage procession through the streets of London and the queen's appearance with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren on the palace balcony.
The queen took the throne in on the death of her father, King George VI, and most Britons have known no other monarch. Prime Minister David Cameron -- the 12th British leader of the queen's reign -- paid tribute to the monarch's "extraordinary level of physical energy, mental energy, and above all devotion to her people, to the institutions of this country, to the way our democracy works.
In a jubilee gift from Britain's politicians, lawmakers from the three main parties have backed a motion calling for the tower housing Big Ben -- the beloved London bell that chimes the quarter hour -- to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in the queen's honor.
It's currently called the Clock Tower. While many Britons used the long weekend to relax -- and an estimated 2 million left the country on vacation -- writers and religious leaders used the occasion to reflect on how Britain has changed over the queen's reign, from a war-scarred imperial power to a middle-sized power with oversized cultural clout. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, expressed a widely held view when he said Britain had been lucky to have Elizabeth as monarch throughout a period of rapid change.
You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. We're particularly proud because we had the biggest contingent of any association and I think that shows the importance of these little boats to the country and to the sovereign.
The weather had not been so bleak at the beginning of the day, with drizzle shrouding London rather than the heavy rain that followed.
That allowed Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to drop into the Big Jubilee Lunch in Piccadilly, central London, where the famous road was closed off for the first time in its history. At Tower Bridge, Denise and Jim Farrar, from Aldershot, had began queuing at 7am and said the event was a double celebration for them.
Mrs Farrar, 59, said: "We were coronation babies and we've been married 40 years this year, so we wanted to come along and celebrate. It's the first time we've ever done anything like this, so we wanted to get a good spot. Dafydd Richards, 35, and Felicity Anderson, 30, from New Zealand, arrived almost six hours before the boats were due to pass and said they were used to braving the elements.
Celebrations across many part of the UK went ahead despite the weather, with some street parties being moved into village halls and local pubs at the last minute. In Cardiff, scores of people were on the scene early at the start of the city's Big Lunch celebration, in St Mary's Street.
Ceri Jones, 31, from Neath, got into the party atmosphere by offering sausage rolls to more than a dozen friends at the Big Lunch. We intend to make this an occasion we won't forget," she said. In Cornwall, Julie and Martin Starkie held their celebration at Polkerris, between Par and Fowey, where people tucked into a barbecue and took part in a sand sculpture competition. Mr Starkie said: "Despite the bracing weather, people showed up with their brollies, buckets and spades and knives and forks for the beach lunch.
The final music barge carrying members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir stopped next to the royal barge for a short performance.
As it played a nautical tune, the Queen bobbed slightly, while the Duchess of Cornwall moved in time to the music. The Guinness World Records said the pageant had set a new world record for the largest parade of boats, surpassing the previous record of in Bremerhaven, Germany, last year.
Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the year-old Queen during an interview on BBC One's Andrew Marr programme earlier, saying: "Her insight and her sharpness is extraordinary and I don't see any sign of her working less hard. In Piccadilly, central London, before the pageant, the BBC's Sangita Myska said there had been a "huge crush" as well-wishers flocked to greet a surprise visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall to a street party where tables had been set up.
Some 46 people from the flotilla have been treated, with six taken to hospital. Anti-monarchy group Republic says more than 1, protesters joined its demonstration against what it calls an unelected, unaccountable monarch. Its chief executive, Graham Smith, said most people had not been celebrating the Jubilee.
He added: "Gay Pride in London gets many more people than were down here today, so does the Notting Hill Carnival, so you know it's not that big a deal. On Monday, a concert will be held in front of Buckingham Palace, ending with a firework display and more than 4, beacons are due to be lit in the UK and around the world.
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