The Queen is throwing a giant street party for her 90th birthday – here's how to get invited
Elizabeth will be joined near Buckingham Palace by the Duke of Edinburgh, Princes William and Harry and 10,000 others - some chosen by public ballot
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Your support makes all the difference.The Queen will be joined by 10,000 guests for a huge street party near Buckingham Palace next summer to mark her 90th birthday.
What's going on?
The so-called Patron’s Lunch, a reference to the Elizabeth’s involvement with 600 charities and good causes, will take place on The Mall on Sunday, 12 June – part of a weekend celebrations to mark the anniversary.
A big do, then?
The street will be lined with picnic tables and union flags, with guests joining the monarch - as well as the Duke of Edinburgh and Princes William and Harry - for a sit-down hamper-style lunch and entertainment. William and Harry will be “joint presidents” of the event.
So how can you get an invite?
Royal watchers will want to know how they can secure a ticket. The answer is: with difficulty.
Of the 10,000 tickets, 7,500 are being reserved for guests from the Queen’s charities and organisations and 1,500 will go the event’s “official partners”.
Everyone else who wants to go will have to chance their arm in the public ballot for the remaining 1,000 tickets.
What else is taking place?
A service of thanksgiving attended by the Queen and Philip will be held at St Paul's Cathedral on Friday, 10 June, the following day the traditional Trooping the Colour ceremony, also known as the Queen's Birthday Parade, will be staged in Horse Guards Parade and on the Sunday the street party.
Peter Phillips, the Queen's grandson, is helping to organise the street party in his role as director of Sports Entertainment Ltd, a global events agency which came up with the idea for The Mall street party.
Mr Phillips said: "We wanted to create a celebration based off the back of the successful Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee where there was a ground swell of warmth and affection for the Queen."
But he stressed next year's celebration would have more of an emphasis on the Queen's support for her charities: "We want to reflect the service she's given to all her organisations and charities."
He added: "And insure there was a suitable celebration of her commitment to her patronages and provide the opportunity for her patronages and other communities around the country to say thank you."
Mr Phillips said about his grandmother: "She's obviously been kept abreast through her office about all the developments and the times I've had the chance to talk to her [about it] she's been excited by it."
The Queen is patron of organisations including Barnardo's, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the British Diabetic Association and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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