Crowds burst into cheers and tears as they celebrate ‘magical’ Jubilee spectacle

Crowds in central London have been bursting into cheers as well as tears as they celebrate the “magical” and “historic” Jubilee spectacle.

Thousands descended on The Mall on Thursday to watch Trooping the Colour, catch a glimpse of the royal family, marvel at the Red Arrows and cheer on more than 1,400 soldiers with 250 horses parading towards Buckingham Palace.

Spirits were high amongst members of the public, many of whom held banners, waved flags and were bedecked in party hats and plastic tiaras.

The crowds roared as the three carriages carrying members of the royal family passed the thousands of spectators on their way to Horse Guards Parade for Trooping the Colour.

The Duchess of Cornwall, dressed all in pale blue, waved as she sat in the first coach with the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore a white suit, and her three young children George, Charlotte and Louis.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Cambridge all paraded down The Mall on horseback.

Charles saluted as the Irish Guards marched past, bearing the royal Colour.

Lieutenant Charles Bashall, 24, who carried the Colour on parade, said: “It is an incredible privilege to be involved in the Platinum Jubilee, especially as we will never see another in our lifetimes.”

Dawn Holman, 52, who had come to watch the parade with a group of friends all wearing masks of the Queen, said: “We come every year to celebrate the royal family and what she’s done for us.

“We’ve met people from all over the world – they’ve all come. Nobody like us Brits can put on a show. It is amazing, absolutely amazing.

“God save the Queen,” the group of friends all said in unison.

Abigail Inversi, 39, who watched the parade with her son Rory, 10, said: “We ended up having a really, really good view and it was a historic moment.

“The music for me, the band, was probably my number one but I did have a glimpse of Princess Anne on her horse too.”

Rory said it was “really cool” to see a princess, adding: “I’ve never seen one I don’t think.

“I saw lots of horses, sometimes the horses were a bit out of control because they were a bit over-excited but it was good.”

Kimberlee Wooling, 21, and Sloane Chan, 20, both from Trinidad and Tobago, also joined the crowds for the “once in a lifetime” occasion.

“I don’t think they’ll ever have that again so we came to be part of it,” Ms Wooling said.

She added: “It was fun to see all the costumes – all the outfits.”

Later, crowds sang the national anthem as the Queen appeared on large screens on The Mall.

The royal family appeared on the balcony to watch the flypast while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted just inside the doors inside the Palace.

Sammy Hawieson, 35, who watched the flypast with her four daughters, Olivia, 12, Florence, 11, Gracie, nine, and Quin, five, said it was “amazing” to see the royal family.

Ms Hawieson said: “To get here and see them on the balcony was really cool.”

Gracie said she also liked seeing the Queen, adding that she was wearing a “blue hat”.

Uwe and Sandra Banach said they came to watch the Jubilee from Germany and “were very impressed”.

The couple said it was “brilliant” to see the royal family on the balcony, adding that it was their “first time seeing the Queen”.

Thousands flooded onto the road in front of the Palace to watch the flypast.

With each fleet of planes flying past came a round of whoops and cheers, which reached their loudest when several aircraft created a “70” formation in the sky to mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

“It makes me proud to be British,” said 24-year-old Dan from Notting Hill, west London.

“You don’t think it’s going to get any better and then they threw a 70 out there.”

Shirley McNamara, who had come from Epsom with her friend Sharon, said: “We were crying, it was truly magical, memorable.”

Seeing the planes overhead was particularly poignant for Shirley, who added: “My great-uncle was a rear gunner and flew in Lancaster bombers, and when I saw it, it was amazing.”

Celia Lourd, 60, who was elected the Silver Jubilee queen of the village of Morton in Lincolnshire at age 15 and stood on a float at the central London celebrations in 1977, said: “I’m very proud of the Queen.

“She’s been my Queen all my life and I think we owe her an awful lot for the service she’s given to the country so I wanted to come to show my support today and say thank you.”

Ms Lourd, who was wearing the same sash she wore on the float in 1977, added: “I really wanted to be here because I was a big part of the Silver Jubilee in 1977, so I wanted to be a part of the Platinum Jubilee in 2022.”