Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall Begin Tour of Australia
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Australia today as they begin the second leg of their Diamond Jubilee tour.

Prince Charles and Camilla landed at Longreach Airport, Queensland, where the heir to the throne named a new plane used by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, before joining a traditional Australian barbeque.

In Australia the royal couple have set themselves the task of visiting four major cities - Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and the capital Canberra - and the island state of Tasmania in just six days.

A royal aide said: "The theme of the Jubilee is service to others and their royal highnesses are determined to meet as many people as possible in the time available which is why we're trying to get around so many states and territories as we possibly can." » | Telegraph reporters | Monday, November 05, 2012

Diamond Jubilee: Queen 'Humbled and Touched' by Celebrations
The Queen declared herself humbled by the celebrations staged for her Diamond Jubilee in a rare address to the country and Commonwealth.

Read the article here | Telegraph reporters | Tuesday, June 05, 2012

The Queen's ‘Diamond Jubilee Concert’: Prince Charles’ Speech (in Full)

Stevie Wonder Performing at ‘The Diamond Jubilee Concert’

Diamond Jubilee Crowds Cheer Queen to St Paul's

Duke of Edinburgh Rushed to Hospital with Bladder Infection, Buckingham Palace Announces
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital suffering from a bladder infection and will miss the remainder of the Jubilee celebrations, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The Duke, 90, will spend the next few days at King Edward VII Hospital in London after being taken there by ambulance from Windsor Castle.

He was said to be "disappointed" that he would miss the remainder of the Jubilee weekend, which culminates tomorrow with a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral and a carriage procession through the capital.

The Duke's sudden illness, which follows a spell in hospital over Christmas after he suffered heart problems, will lead to inevitable speculation that his health has suffered as a result of the four hours he spent in the open in bitterly cold and wet conditions during yesterday's Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: "His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon from Windsor Castle as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection, which is being assessed and treated.

"Prince Philip will remain in hospital under observation for a few days. He is understandably disappointed about missing this evening's Diamond Jubilee concert and tomorrow's engagements." » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Monday, June 04, 2012

My comment:

This is sad news indeed. My thoughts are with him and Her Majesty at this difficult time. It is to be hoped that the Duke will make a speedy and sound recovery. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

PM David Cameron on Queen's Jubilee
Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee comes at a time when Britain is struggling with severe economic problems. Prime Minster David Cameron speaks to Erica Hill about the celebration.

Related »

"Rock Royalty" To Join Queen's Jubilee Concert

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant
Members of the royal family sail down the river Thames as part of a 1,000-strong flotilla to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne. The jubilee river pageant sailed from Battersea bridge to Tower Bridge, cheered on by thousands of people standing on bridges and embankments, despite almost continual wet weather

Related »

Surprise Royal Guests Join Diamond Jubilee Street Party
BBC: Well-wishers greeted the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall at a street party in Piccadilly, central London, where 500 tables were set up for a Diamond Jubilee celebration lunch.

The royal couple were surprise visitors at the event.

The Big Jubilee Lunch is encouraging people to share food with neighbours and friends in street parties and picnics.

The BBC's Sangita Myska reports. Watch BBC video » | Sunday, June 03, 2012

Related »

Scene on Thames ahead of Jubilee Pageant
BBC: Boats are gathering ahead of a spectacular regatta on the Thames as the Queen's Jubilee celebrations reach their peak.

The BBC's Simon McCoy and Luisa Baldini report. Watch BBC video » | Sunday, June 03, 2012

Related »

Diamond Jubilee: River Thames Pageant to Honour Queen
BBC: Thousands of people are lining the Thames in London for the Jubilee river pageant despite wet weather, as street parties get under way nationwide.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to watch the Queen's barge lead a 1,000-strong flotilla.

The nautical parade, marking 60 years of her reign, promises to be the most spectacular in London for 350 years.

Prince Charles has joined a London street party in Piccadilly and concerts and events are taking place UK-wide.

Meanwhile, some people heading into London for the celebrations have been delayed because they have been unable to get on crowded trains.

When the pageant begins, the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and other senior royals will travel from Albert Bridge to Tower Bridge aboard a lavishly adapted royal barge - the Spirit of Chartwell - decorated with almost 10,000 cut flowers.

The spectacle, which began with mustering at 11:30 BST, will end at about 17:30 after the last vessel completes the seven-mile route at Tower Bridge. » | Sunday, June 03, 2012

Related material here, here, here, here, and here

The Archbishop of Canterbury on The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Use Jubilee to Restore Moral Values, Says Bishop

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: One of the country’s leading bishops has called for people to use the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee as an opportunity to restore the nation’s moral values.

The Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, said promiscuity, separation and divorce have reached epidemic proportions in Britain and that the Jubilee was an opportunity to think about the kind of environment being bequeathed to future generations.

He said although people were better off since the Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952, material progress had come at the expense of equality and communal life.

Writing in a Bible Society pamphlet, Dr Chartres says: “Britain is indeed a better place today materially than ever before, but that material progress has been at the expense of our relationships with one another, our communal life. Within families, within communities, within society as a whole, our relationships are more strained, more fragile, more broken than we care to recognise.” » | Patrick Sawer | Saturday, June 02, 2012

Viewpoint from the Left: Queen's Diamond Jubilee: A Vapid Family and a Mirage of Nationhood. What's to Celebrate?

THE GUARDIAN: If the very idea of monarchy diminishes us, the living reality is much more humiliating and damaging to our country

The mighty royal jubilee bells will toll their way down the Thames on Sunday on a floating belfry leading a thousand boats, echoed by pealing church bells all down the riverside. Who could miss the spectacle of a hundred tall ships serenaded with Handel's Water Music played by a floating orchestra?

The more outrageously glorious the performance, the more preposterous its purpose. There at the heart, in the dead centre of all this pomp and circumstance, is the great emptiness, the nothingness, the Wizard of Oz in emperor's clothes. The louder the bells, the more gaping the grand vacuity. What are we celebrating? A singularly undistinguished family's hold on the nation, a mirage of nationhood, a majestic delusion.

How close to religion it is, with all the same feudal imagery, God as Lord and sovereign, sovereign anointed by God, knelt before in a divine hierarchy of power ordained by laws too ineffable to explain. The tyranny of the monarchy lies not in its residual temporal power but in its spiritual power. It subjugates the national imagination, infantilising us with false imaginings and a bogus heritage of our island story. For as long as they rule over us, we are obedient servants, worshipping an ermine-wrapped fantasy of Englishness. (Despite the kilts, the monarchy was never really British.) Read on and comment » | Polly Toynbee | Thursday, May 31, 2012