The Cambridges Watch Stars Come Out at Tonight’s Platinum Party at the Palace

The Duchess brought back a Self Portrait design for tonight’s Platinum Party at the Palace concert. 

Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined their parents for the mega-concert staged in front of Buckingham Palace. 

As with yesterday’s Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s and Trooping the Colour on Thursday, there was a sizable showing of royal family members. Below are Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

The BBC reports that “Ten minutes before the concert started, Prince Charles walked the short distance from Buckingham Palace to the Royal Box, waving cheerfully at the crowd as they shouted “Charles! Sir! Sir!” and zoomed in their camera phones.”

The Wessex family. 

Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. 

Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. 

Here is a wide shot of the royal box. 

In this next photo, you can see the Tindalls, Mike and Zara, behind the Duchess. Some of you may recognize the gentleman on the Duchess’s right, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Ken Olisa. We have seen him at many engagements over the years.

Also in the royal box are Peter Phillips, Princess Anne, Isla Phillips, Sir Tim Laurence, and Savannah Phillips. Behind Peter Phillips, you see Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister (in ivory top).

Lord Frederick Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman.  

In the front row, you see (l to r) the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Julia Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant’s wife; in the second row, Lord Nicholas Windsor, Prince and Princess Michael; in the third row, I think there are several members of the Chatto family.

The Middleton family was at the concert. Below, Pippa Matthews.

This next image shows Pippa’s husband, James Matthews, on the far left, along with James Middleton.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie were in attendance, as was London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour party leader Keir Starmer. (I am sure I will have missed others.) 

There were 22000 guests outside Buckingham Palace in temporary seating erected for the event. There were enormous crowds again along the Mall and Buckingham Palace.

Journalist Victoria Murphy shared a terrific photo of the sunset.

A wide shot. 
The event started with a visit between the Queen and Paddington Bear, an appearance by HM that is up there with the James Bond skit for the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Here is the answer for anyone who has ever wondered what HM keeps in her handbag. (The video runs about 2:30.)  

 

 The concert opened with Queen and Adam Lambert. 

People magazine’s Simon Perry shared a brief video. 

Champions! pic.twitter.com/usrD2UqOLL

— Simon Perry (@SPerryPeoplemag) June 4, 2022

Other big names included Alicia Keys. 

From The Telegraph’s rolling live coverage: 

She sings her hits Superwoman, which she dedicates to the monarch, and Girl on Fire as Buckingham Palace is bathed in orange lights. 

“I love you, London”, she says. 

Speaking to the crowd, she says: “You know when I’m in London, I feel like I’m home. It reminds me so much of New York. I love you London.”

Sir Rod Stewart did Sweet Caroline.

John Taylor, Simon Le Bon, of Duran Duran with Nile Rodgers.

Andrea Bocelli sang Nessun Dorma. 

There was a segment focusing on West End Musicals. Below you see Lin Manuel Miranda and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

More from The Express and Star:

Lin-Manuel Miranda gave a nod to the Queen’s ancestor King George III during his performance at the Platinum Party at the Palace.

The composer and playwright joined Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber for his section of his performance, which was an homage to British musicals worked on by Lord Lloyd Webber as well as other notable West End shows.

Lord Lloyd Webber, while playing the piano, asked Miranda: “Do you have a Hamilton selection for our Queen?,” referencing his Tony and Olivier award-winning rap musical about American founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Giles Terera as Aaron Burr from the Hamilton West End production. I believe he is doing Wait for It.

Mr. Terera and Mr. Miranda, moments after they finished their performances.

Phantom of the Opera.

Diana Ross closed the show. 

There were lots of flags.  

The Cambridge children had some darling expressions on their faces. UPDATE JUNE 8: With huge thanks to Allie, who shared the information in her comment, the gentleman behind Prince George is Hamza Taouzzale, the Lord Mayor of Westminster.

Another image. 

Prince George and his father share a laugh. 

A few of the photos would make great fodder for caption contests.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what people are reacting to in the photos.

There was a spectacular light show depicting things associated with the Queen.

From Deadline’s column: 

Even with Diana Ross topping the bill, arguably the biggest star of the night was the light show, with some dazzling images of the Queen projected onto the palace walls and other illuminations across the London night sky. 

My husband says drones were used for parts of the displays.

Prince William spoke during the event.

More from this People story. 

The Duke of Cambridge appeared during the Our Green Planet segment of the show, which opened with pre-recorded words from Sir David Attenborough and spectacular imagery of the planet.

William took the stage, opening by stating, “Good evening everyone.  It’s so wonderful to be here with you on this incredible night. And great to see Buckingham Palace turned into an IMAX screen!”

Prince Charles also spoke. 

The Evening Standard has more in this piece

Charles spoke movingly about the Queen calling her “Mummy” and described how “you laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us…” in a speech to thousands of spectators in The Mall.

The monarch was poignantly missing from the star-studded show in the shadow of Buckingham Palace, but the prince said she would be watching “with much emotion” and he emphasised her dedication saying: “That is why we are here. That is what we celebrate tonight.”

We return to the People article. 

“Your family now spans four generations. You are our Head of State. And you are also our mother. Your ‘strength and stay’ is much missed this evening but I am sure he is here in spirit…My Papa would have enjoyed the show and joined us wholeheartedly in celebrating all you continue to do for your country and your people,” he continued, praising his late father and the Queen’s beloved husband Prince Philip, who died last year at the age of 99.

He received a loud cheer from the crowds when he mentioned how the Queen was almost 100, and how during her lifetime she had seen great technological changes.

The program also included prerecorded messages of thanks from Daniel Craig, Sir Paul McCartney, Michelle Obama, Dame Julie Andrews, Sir Mo Farah, and others. 

A quick video from the Royal Family. 

What an incredible evening!#PlatinumPartyaatthePalace pic.twitter.com/x1zgmH61nE

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 4, 2022

Now for our look at what Kate wore this evening, seen here as the royals were leaving the event. I imagine Princess Charlotte and Prince George were pretty tuckered out after their visit to Cardiff.

The Duchess carried a clutch I don’t recognize. Initially, I thought it was the bag carried to the Thirty Club dinner at Claridge’s in May 2012 and the 2016 Art Fund Awards, but it isn’t. That bag is shown below right, and you can see the flap comes to a vee, while the bag from tonight has a softer curved edge on the flap.

I have had a couple of glimpses of the heels worn tonight in videos but can’t see enough to say which pair they are or if they are a new style. If more photos emerge, I will update the post. 

The Duchess wore a cross that remains unidentified with a pair of Robinson Pelham Aspen earrings. 

The earrings were first noted during the 2018 Sweden visit. From the jeweler’s Oxygen collection, the earrings are 18K white gold and diamonds. The photo on the right this when they were worn in 2018.

Here is a quick wrap-up video from Kensington Palace. 

Queen ???? The Queen

Tonight’s #PlatinumJubilee Party at the Palace was a fitting and fabulous tribute to Her Majesty.

Well done to everyone involved! pic.twitter.com/o0ZAUamvZI

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) June 5, 2022

And one final photo, this one courtesy of Emily Nash, Hello’s Royal Editor. 

VIDEOS: 

Here is the BBC’s recap, which runs more than four minutes. 

The Royal Family Channel offers about two minutes of highlights in this video. 

Clarence House posted the remarks made by Prince Charles tonight in a video that runs about six minutes. 

Your Majesty, Mummy,

The scale of this evening’s celebration – and the outpouring of warmth and affection over this whole Jubilee weekend – is our way of saying thank you – from your family, the country, the Commonwealth, in fact the whole world.

– HRH The Prince of Wales pic.twitter.com/R3nre4jIsD

— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) June 4, 2022

Here is Prince William’s speech.