Royalist is The Daily Beast’s newsletter for all things royal and Royal Family. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.
American residents wanting to immerse themselves in the pomp and ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne, have plenty of options, thanks to the miracle of the internet.
One of the easiest ways to watch much of the proceedings is to click on the YouTube channel of British broadcaster Sky News, which, unlike the BBC, is not geo-blocked for U.S. audiences.
ADVERTISEMENT
Given that the U.K. is five hours ahead of the East Coast, and eight hours ahead of the West Coast, the user-friendly interface that allows you to rewind playback (and then skip forward again thus skipping all pesky non-royal news) for the past 12 hours is likely to come in handy for those not planning to get up early in New York (or California) to watch the queen’s official birthday celebrations, known as “Trooping the Color” on Thursday, or the Service of Thanksgiving on Friday.
Trooping the Color is always a fantastic flexing of British ceremonial muscle, and this year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever, with 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 army musicians taking part.
It begins at 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) and will conclude three long hours later at 1 p.m. (8 a.m. ET), with a six-minute flypast during the big balcony appearance of the royal family.
It has of course been announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won’t be on the Buckingham Palace balcony (it’s limited to working royals) but the possibility they could be observing in some capacity should not be ruled out.
On Thursday evening there will be a dramatic beacon lighting ceremony starting from 9:30 p.m. local time in London, and then beacons all over the country will be lit in sequence.
The ceremony, which dates back to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, has become a feature of all jubilees—and makes surprisingly good television.
All the U.S. morning shows have sent anchors to London and built outside broadcast positions at the palace, so you can be sure they will carry highlights of the festivities.
ABC says on its published schedule that Good Morning America will feature live coverage of the Jubilee, and has announced that GMA will broadcast live form London, with Amy Robach leading coverage. ABC is the BBC’s official broadcasting partner for the jubilee and will be covering all the major events. The network says it is planning to air a special news report at 5 a.m. ET when the queen is due to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie will be providing commentary for the network.
CBS is pushing the boat out with a Gayle King special on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET entitled, simply, Her Majesty the Queen.
The network says the show “will look at the triumphs and the turbulence surrounding the queen’s unprecedented milestone and the strength it has taken to move her family and her country forward.” The Daily Beast’s founding editor Tina Brown is just one of the experts being called on by King, and the special will include highlights of the first day’s celebrations.
Friday will be all about the live broadcast, available on Sky News, of the big church service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. local (6:30 a.m. ET).
The queen is expected to attend, but all eyes will be on the younger royals: this will be the first time the former fab four of Harry, Meghan, Kate and William will be gathered together since their awkward appearance at the Commonwealth Service in 2020, which was Harry’s final royal duty. Attentive readers will recall that Meghan tried to engage Kate in conversation on that occasion, only to be summarily blanked.
Sky typically does a comprehensive job of covering these type of royal events, with its dedicated royal reporter, Rhiannon Mills, highly regarded among the press pack. Alastair Bruce, a former officer in the Guards and royal expert, is also going to be commentating. Bruce typically delivers brilliantly informed (and inadvertently hilariously nerdy) insights into the origins of arcane royal traditions.
Saturday June 4’s coverage in the U.K. will be dominated by a three-hour evening concert entitled the Platinum Party at the Palace, which will take place slap bang outside Buckingham Palace.
The BBC has the exclusive rights to this event, which boasts a star-studded lineup, including performances by Duran Duran, Andrea Bocelli, and Diana Ross.
The BBC, contacted with a request for details as to how and whether the show can be watched in the U.S., pointed The Daily Beast toward ABC as its broadcast partner and ABC’s published schedule says that it will show the event for two hours from 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Sunday’s Jubilee Pageant, a performative procession through the streets of London, is due to run from 2:30-5 p.m. U.K. time which is 9:30 a.m.-12 noon ET, so expect the Sunday morning shows to make frequent check-ins with their anchors in London.
