Queen’s Platinum Jubilee LIVE: Charles and Camilla kick off Big Jubilee Lunch

Millions to take part in street parties across UK today

Millions of Brits will gather for patriotic street parties, picnics and barbecues, with more than 85,000 Big Jubilee Lunches being held across the UK.

The Duchess of Cornwall, patron of the Big Lunch, will join Charles at a flagship feast at The Oval cricket ground in south London, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex will meet people creating the “Long Table” down on The Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle.

Some 10,000 people including a cast of 6,000 performers are involved in staging the 3km carnival procession from Horse Guards, along Whitehall to Admiralty Arch and down The Mall to Buckingham Palace.

The ambitious £15 million pageant is split into four acts: For Queen and Country with a military parade; The Time of Our Lives progressing through seven decades of culture, music and fashion; Let’s Celebrate telling the story of the Queen’s life in 12 chapters with corgi puppets and carnival creations; and the Happy and Glorious musical spectacle.

Celebrities will travel in decorated open top double decker buses for the decade-by-decade celebrations.

Among the sights will be the Gold State Coach which will feature archival footage of the Queen broadcast at the windows, making it seem as if the monarch is in the carriage.

A peloton of 300 cyclists, riding vintage bikes from across the seven decades of the Queen’s reign, is to travel down The Mall led by Sir Chris Hoy and cycling golden couple Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny.