Basil Brush and singers Ed Sheeran and Sir Cliff Richard are among “national treasures” to feature in the platinum jubilee People’s Pageant carnival finale involving more than 10,000 people during the June bank holiday, organisers said.
Against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace on Sunday 5 June, highlights will include puppet corgis and a giant 3D bust of the Queen, with television audiences across the globe expected to run into hundreds of millions.
Sheeran, who will appear on stage to lead a tribute to the Queen, said: “I’m proud to be part of the celebration and it’s going to be a great opportunity to bring everyone together.”
David Zolkwer, the show’s director, would not give further details, saying organisers want to “hold some surprises back for the day”. There is speculation that members of the royal family may make an appearance on the palace balcony at the finale but organisers would not be drawn on the rumours.
Other celebrities confirmed to be taking part throughout the day include Jeremy Irons, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Gary Lineker, Rosie Jones, Kadeena Cox, Alan Titchmarsh, Heston Blumenthal, James Martin, Bill Bailey and Gok Wan.
The event will be split into four acts: For Queen and Country, The Time of Our Lives, Let’s Celebrate, and Happy and Glorious. For Queen and Country will feature a military parade with 1,750 people and 200 horses in one of the largest military spectacles in modern history, according to organisers. During a homage to the 1953 coronation, a huge wire-framed bust of the monarch will appear.
Other highlights include an aerial artist suspended under a vast helium balloon, known as a heliosphere, bearing the image of the Queen, 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.
Zolkwer said: “This is very much a ‘people’s pageant’. It’s by and for the people.
“It’s about ordinary people coming together from far and wide to do extraordinary things. Real people with delightful, authentic stories to tell, taking centre stage in a spectacular performance filled with wonder, warmth, wit and so much humanity. It will be all about how, through the recollections and stories and experiences we share, we can see how we are all connected: through time, to each other, and to the Queen.”
The procession will cover a route of nearly two miles, echoing the Queen’s coronation.
