Queen’s Platinum Jubilee –Everything you need to know & key timings as FOUR-DAY Bank Holiday bonanza kicks off TODAY

THE Queen's Platinum Jubilee is finally here with an action-packed Bank Holiday weekend to mark the occasion.

Brits are in for a four-day bonanza bursting with festivities to mark Her Majesty's 70 year reign.

The 96-year-old is the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

And the May Bank Holiday Weekend - which usually falls at the end of the month - was moved to Thursday June 2 to fit in all the fun.

Here is everything you need to know about the celebrations.

THURSDAY JUNE 2

The Platinum Jubilee weekend will start with a bang today as the Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) is held.

The event will start at 10am, with the colour trooped by the 1st Batallion, Irish Guards and more than 1,200 officers from the Household Division.

It will then be complete with a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.

During the ceremony, there will be an opportunity to watch the event on a large screen at St James' Park in London.

And once it has ended, the Royal Family will take to the Buckingham Palace balcony, where they will wave at crowds and watch the flypast.

On the same day, over 1500 towns, villages and cities throughout the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories will come together to light a beacon to mark the Jubilee.

FRIDAY JUNE 3

On the Friday, a Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral at 11.30am.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will reportedly attend the event alongside other members of the Royal Family, who will start arriving from 11am.

Great Paul, the largest church bell in the country, will be rung for the service after being restored in 2021.

It has been rung on eight occasions since - although this will be its first royal occasion since the big revamp.

A Guildhall reception will follow the service, with the royals set to attend at 12.25pm.

SATURDAY JUNE 4

On the Saturday, the BBC will host a huge 'Platinum Party at the Palace' - a live concert broadcast on the BBC.

Members of the Royal Family will arrive just before the concert begins, hosted by Kirsty Young and Roman Kemp and due to take place between 8pm and 10.30pm.

A total of 22,000 people are expected to attend, including 10,000 allocated in a public ballot and 5,000 tickets for key workers.

Epsom Downs Racecourse will also stage the 243rd running of the Derby on Saturday.

SUNDAY JUNE 5

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant will complete the weekend extravaganza with Ed Sheeran, Sir Cliff Richard and Gary Lineker among stars set to take part.

Kicking off the event will be the bells of Westminster chiming as they did for the Queen's coronation 70 years ago.

The Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry will then lead the Gold State Coach along a crowd-thronged pageant route back to Buckingham Palace.

Glittering stars will also take part, with Ed Sheeran performing in a carnival finale of The People's Pageant along The Mall in London.

Other celebrities confirmed throughout the day include Sir Cliff Richard, Jeremy Irons, Gary Lineker, Bill Bailey and Gok Wan.

The £15 million pageant is being "made by the people for the people" and is a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, organisers said.

It is set to bring to life iconic moments from the Queen's reign as well as showcasing how society has changed over the past 70 years.

Highlights will include an aerial artist suspended under a vast helium balloon, known as a heliosphere, bearing the image of the Queen.

Other key moments will be a giant oak tree flanked with maypole dancers, a huge moving wedding cake sounding out Bollywood hits, a towering dragon and three-storey-high beasts.

Also on the Sunday, a Big Jubilee Lunch will also be held up and down the country on June 5, with over 60,000 people registered to host one of their own.

Events involved are set to range from world record attempts for the longest street party to back garden barbecues.

OTHER KEY JUBILEE EVENTS

The Queen's Green Canopy

Green-fingered communities and cities across the country have come together to make 2022 a truly special year to “plant a tree for the Jubilee”.

It works to protect 70 ancient trees and woodlands, as well as a training programme to teach unemployed young people new skills.

The Queen’s Green Canopy will continue throughout this year and into March 2023.

Royal Collection Trust

Three special displays marking significant occasions in Her Majesty’s reign will be staged at the official royal residences from July.

At the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, portraits of the Queen taken by photographer Dorothy Wilding between 1953 and 1956 will be on display.

At Windsor Castle, the Coronation Dress and Robe of Estate worn by The Queen for her Coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953 will be on display.

And at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, visitors will see outfits worn by the Queen on occasions to celebrate the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees.

The Queen’s Private Estates

Free celebrations will also take place at Sandringham and Balmoral estates, for the public to enjoy.

Over the four-day June weekend, there will be a Platinum Party at the Palace on the big screen in the Royal Parkland.

The lighting of the Sandringham beacon will also be in the Royal Parkland, accompanied by live music from the Norwich Pipe Band and the Hunstanton Band.