Queen gives her Jubilee service a miss

LONDON－Britain celebrated the second day of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee on Friday, with the highlight a service of thanksgiving attended by senior royals and politicians that the 96-year-old monarch herself was missing due to ongoing mobility issues.

The four days of events kicked off on Thursday when a happy-looking Elizabeth waved to the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a military parade and Royal Air Force flypast, and later led the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon at her Windsor Castle home.

The celebrations continued on Friday with a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral in London to pay tribute to the sovereign's 70 years on the throne.

But the queen, who has been forced to cancel a series of engagements recently because of "episodic mobility problems", was absent.

"The queen greatly enjoyed today's Birthday Parade and Flypast, but did experience some discomfort," said Buckingham Palace in a statement late on Thursday. Officials said the journey from Windsor Castle, where she spends most of her time, to London and the activity involved in the service was too much, and a regrettable but sensible decision had been taken.

A palace source said it had always been the queen's hope that she would attend rather than a firm commitment.

She was not the only absentee. Her second son, Prince Andrew, has tested positive for COVID-19 and also skipped the service.

The Jubilee celebrations will go on for a long weekend, and it was not immediately known how the news would affect Jubilee events on Saturday and Sunday.

Longest-reigning monarch

Elizabeth, who became queen at the age of 25, is Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the first to reach the milestone of seven decades on the throne.

She has now been on the throne for longer than any of her predecessors in 1,000 years, and is the third-longest reigning monarch ever of a sovereign state. Opinion polls show that she remains hugely popular and respected among British people.

Not everyone in Britain is celebrating. Twelve protesters were arrested on Thursday after getting past barriers and onto the parade route.

The group Animal Rebellion claimed responsibility, saying the protesters were "demanding that royal land is reclaimed".

Former prime minister John Major, one of the 14 prime ministers during the queen's reign, said the monarch's stoic presence has helped steer the country over the decades.

Congratulations arrived from world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and Pope Francis. French President Emmanuel Macron called Elizabeth "the golden thread that binds our two countries" and former US president Barack Obama recalled the queen's "grace and generosity" during his first visit to the palace.

Agencies Via Xinhua