Thousands of beacons have been lit across the UK and Commonwealth to mark the Platinum Jubilee.
Lighting bonfires and beacons for major royal events is a tradition that goes back centuries in Britain.
As dusk turned to night on the first day of the Platinum Jubilee weekend, over 3,500 beacons were lit around the world to mark the milestone.
At Edinburgh Castle, the city’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge was present for the lighting of the beacon while in Cardiff a beacon blazed brightly outside the Pierhead Building. In Belfast, a beacon was illuminated at the Titanic Building.
A spectacular fireworks display accompanied the lighting of the beacon at Hadrian’s Wall while flames were illuminated high on Glastonbury Tor.
The charity, Walking for the Wounded, lit beacons on each of the UK’s highest points while the official NHS beacon, made up of blue lasers, was lit in Manchester.
In Australia, new Prime Minister, Antony Albanese lit the beacon at Marion, Regatta Point in Canberra while New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, was present for the lighting of the flames in Wellington.
The Queen has lit beacons for each of her Jubilees and symbolically began the process of illumination for her Platinum festivities in a short ceremony at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty placed her hand on the Commonwealth of Nations Globe which contains stones from the highest peaks in each of the four countries of the UK. As she touched the globe, a path of lights streamed across the Quadrangle at Windsor and a similar path came to life in London, leading to the Tree of Trees on the Mall. This was the Principal Beacon and was illuminated under the watch of the Duke of Cambridge, acting in a dual ceremony with The Queen.
As the Tree of Trees was lit, images of The Queen throughout her reign were projected on to Buckingham Palace as another tribute on day one of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
