Pop superstar Ed Sheeran to crown Queen Elizabeth’s four-day jubilee jamboree
- The multi-award-winning singer-songwriter will appear at the finale of the pageant lauding the 96-year-old monarch’s record seven decades on the throne
- Thousands of performers paraded along a 3km route, telling the story of the queen’s life with dance, vintage cars, vibrant costumes, carnival music and giant puppets
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British pop superstar Ed Sheeran is set to bring the curtain down on Sunday on four days of momentous nationwide celebrations to honour Queen Elizabeth’s historic Platinum Jubilee.
The multi-award-winning singer-songwriter will perform at the finale of a day-long pageant lauding the 96-year-old monarch’s record seven decades on the throne, as a long weekend of festivities across the UK concludes.
Sheeran is one of numerous “national treasures” poised to perform a “special tribute” to the queen against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace to mark the milestone never previously reached by a British sovereign.
He will perform following the colourful street pageant highlighting Britain’s diversity that paraded through central London on Sunday.
With the ringing of bells at Westminster Abbey, a spectacular military parade featuring 200 horses began the ceremony as they marched down the Mall to Buckingham Palace.
The queen wasn’t taking part in the pageant – though a virtual version of her, drawn from archival video from her 1953 coronation, was shown at the coach’s windows.
Thousands of performers paraded along a three-kilometre (nearly 2-mile) route, telling the story of the queen’s life with dance, vintage cars, vibrant costumes, carnival music and giant puppets.
The keenest royal fans braved the wet, chilly weather and camped out on the Mall overnight to secure the best view of the pageant. Some came for the celebrities who will be performing, while others wanted to be part of a historical moment.
The queen has not appeared in public for the Platinum Jubilee events since Thursday, when she smiled and waved on Buckingham Palace’s balcony with her family. She has limited her appearances in recent months due to what the palace describes as “episodic mobility issues.” She also had Covid-19 this spring
Sheeran, 31, will wrap up the Platinum Jubilee celebrations by singing his 2017 hit Perfect.
Ahead of his appearance, the Shape of You singer-songwriter revealed that the 2002 Party at the Palace to mark the queen’s Golden Jubilee actually inspired his phenomenally successful musical career.
Watching on television, he saw Eric Clapton play his classic song Layla and decided “that is what I want to do”, he wrote on Instagram.
Sheeran performed at Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee concert 10 years ago. “Life is weird how it keeps coming full circle in lovely ways,” he added.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
