More than 70 aircraft will join a royal fly-past to celebrate the UK's Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee.
Aircraft from the Royal Navy, the Army and Royal Air Force will soar over Buckingham Palace on Thursday June 2, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.
The display will feature the Red Arrows aerobatics team, Second World War planes and aircraft used by the British military on operations around the world.
“I'm proud that the armed forces are leading the nation in celebration with such a spectacular display,” said UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
“Throughout the platinum jubilee celebrations, we will all enjoy the expertise, skill and talent of our armed forces as we celebrate Her Majesty's 70 years on the throne.”
The fly-past will take six minutes to fly over the crowds gathered outside the queen's London palace. It is expected to include more than three times the number of aircraft that took part in the monarch's last birthday parade fly-past in the UK capital in 2019.
The display will include helicopters from the Royal Navy and Army and RAF aircraft jubilee seen responding to events in Afghanistan and Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic.
The fly-past will also include highlights from the history of the RAF, including aircraft from the Battle of Britain in the Second World War.
It will follow the queen's Trooping the Colour birthday parade — a display of military pageantry involving 1,500 soldiers and 250 horses from the Army's Household Division on Horse Guards Parade.
The monarch has limited the Trooping the Colour balcony appearance to working members of her family, with the Duke of York and Duke and Duchess of Sussex missing out.
Although they will not be on the balcony, Harry, Meghan and their children will attend the celebrations, but it is not known which elements of the four-day jubilee weekend they could make an appearance at.
Joining the Queen on the balcony for Trooping the Colour will be the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
Also set to appear for the historic occasion will be the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and the Wessexes' children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
Platinum preparation photos
