Queen may accept an invitation to your Jubilee street party

By Caroline Davies

THE Queen's Golden Jubilee will be a people's celebration, with the public offered the opportunity to contribute their own ideas.Some may even find that invitations to the Queen to attend their street party are accepted, as her itinerary will have the emphasis on meeting as many people as possible. Plans for the jubilee were announced yesterday by Tony Blair in a written parliamentary answer.

He said: "This significant national anniversary of 50 years of the Queen's reign will offer people of all ages and cultures and from all walks of life the opportunity for celebration, and the events surrounding the jubilee will provide numerous opportunities for voluntary and community service. "It should be a time for looking forward as well as back - including the great changes that have taken place in the nation's life during Her Majesty's reign." A website, a jubilee emblem and a punishing three-month nationwide tour by the Queen and Prince Philip have all been approved by Buckingham Palace. The tour, which begins on May 1 next year and ends on Aug 5, takes in vast swathes of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and also includes a tri-service military review at Portsmouth, and the opening and closing of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. But the emphasis will be on low-key, community-based events. Palace officials acknowledge it will be a punishing schedule, given that the Queen will be 76 and Prince Philip 81. But the Queen has made it clear she wishes to meet as many people as possible. She has also made it clear there should be "no undue expenditure from public funds". So there will be no statues, and no new buildings to mark the occasion. The only exception will be the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, currently being revamped and due to open next year, which will display a jubilee frieze and a new bronze bust of the Queen.

The focal point of celebrations will be a four-day weekend, from June 1 to June 4, during which the Queen will attend a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The service will be followed by a Golden Jubilee lunch at Guildhall, in the City of London, with full ceremonial procession. June 4 will be the main day of celebrations, and local communities planning street parties are being encouraged to have them on this Bank Holiday. The Queen also prefers there to be no central Golden Jubilee charity fund, nominating instead organisations of which she is patron and which are close to her heart. The five Golden Jubilee charities are: Barnardo's; CRUSE Bereavement Services; I CAN (national education charity of children with speech and language difficulties); the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution; and the Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Association. The website is to be launched soon to co-ordinate events, and organisers say all ideas will be welcome. Lottery funding will be available, and voluntary organisations can apply for grants of £500-£5,000 for projects benefiting good causes.