Queen Elizabeth II - Jubilee Celebration!

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Official Jubilee portrait - Centre Room, Buckingham Palace

It's better to see her with a nice big smile!

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The official webside of the Jubilee
http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/

Very interesting timeline of her reign -
http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/timeline

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In 1952, King George VI's illness forced him to abandon his proposed visit to Australia and New Zealand. The Princess, accompanied by Prince Philip, took his place.

On Wednesday, 6 February 1952, Princess Elizabeth received the news of her father's death and her own accession to the throne, while staying in a remote part of Kenya.
The tour had to be abandoned, and the young Princess flew back to Britain as Queen.

The Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.

The proclamation of her as Queen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2NEF...eature=related

The CBC has a great website with all things Jubilee -

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/features/jubilee/

CTV website - check the listings along the right side

Love the 60 facts about the queen
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories...ubilee-120514/

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Parliament of Canada - The Diamond Jubilee Window - The picture above shows the unveiling at Rideau Hall, and it is installed above the Senate entrance to the Centre Block of Parliament.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/jubilee/window-e.htm

A really nice video recounting Queen Elizabeth II through the years (sorry, can't embed)

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/roy...165/story.html

At the races today -
A beaming Queen Elizabeth arrived at the races on Saturday to indulge a lifelong passion for horses and launch four days of nationwide Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking her 60 years on the British throne.
Wearing a blue coat and matching hat on a chilly summer’s day, the 86-year-old was greeted by tens of thousands of -waving well-wishers at the Epsom Derby in southern England to watch one of the racing calendar’s richest events.



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Looking good, I saw a little of the festivities today.

is the River Thames pagnent going to be televised in Canada?

Yes, there will be coverage of everything, including the flotilla

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant will be live on CBC News Network and CBCNews.ca at 9 a.m. ET and on CBC-TV at 9:30 a.m. ET.

CTV - Coverage begins on News Channel at 7 a.m.ET, going live approximately after 8 a.m. ET for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

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Canadians will be well represented, with members of the Royal Canadian Navy escorting the royal barge, the MV Spirit of Chartwell. The Canadian will fly alongside the British, Australian and New Zealand s as representatives of the four navies accompanying the barge.

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation will be joining with the Canadian Canoe Museum in celebrating the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant by sending Canada One, a replica of a voyageur canoe, to participate in the flotilla, honouring the voyageur men and women who were instrumental in opening up our great country.


Crews of breast cancer survivors, Abreast From the West and Internationally Abreast, will also be paddling dragon boats for the event. They will be dressed in red and white and will salute with their oars as their boats sail past The Queen.

A group of Canadian Heralds, the officials who grant the use of coats of arms, have also been invited to participate in the Pageant by joining English and Scottish Heralds preceding the royal barge with their banners.

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=4837

CTV schedule of all events
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories...hedule-120601/

CBC schedule
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...edule-cbc.html

As well as coverage of events, both channels - and some US stations - are running specials about the Diamond Jubilee.
I saw the the special Katie Couric did, it was very good - nice to see the boys interviewed.

That white outift she is wearing today suits her.

- not sure about the hat, though... ok, in another pic it looks better.
The Queen's gown was embroidered with gold, silver and ivory spots and embellished with Swarovski crystals

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75 year old knitter did this model of the pageant - six feet long, three feet wide - there's a bigger pic on the link

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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/475161...-boat-pageant/

Interesting to see who is on which boat

http://diamondjubilee.hellomagazine....istribution/1/

I thought she looked great!

5.22pm: Guinness World Records has announced that the pageant achieved a new world record for the largest parade of boats – surpassing the previous record of 327 boats in Bremerhaven, Germany, last year.
The record was announced as 419 boats reached Tower Bridge, with up to 1,000 vessels expected to complete the pageant.