In 2022, the Queen will be completing her 70th year as a reigning monarch in the United Kingdom, making her the first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. To commemorate this momentous occasion, Buckingham Palace announced that from 2 to 5 June, there will be an extended bank holiday in which public events and activities will be held for the community.
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Prince Andrew’s sex abuse case
The institution has been going full steam ahead with the preparations for the Jubilee, however it may be overshadowed by Prince Andrew’s ongoing sex abuse case. The US court has scheduled the deadlines for his deposition and the pretrial order in July, weeks after the big royal event.
To stop any controversy from leaking into the special occasion, a source has revealed that Prince Andrew will not be part of the festivities at all. In fact, he’s been ordered to ‘stay invisible’ during the four-day celebration. They told The Sun:
The plan is for him to be invisible during celebrations.
Royal expert Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew, Esptein, Maxwell And The Palace, added:
It is very sensible otherwise the attention would all be on Andrew.
It is an embarrassing situation for the Queen especially as she is stumping up for his defence. He just has to keep his head down.
This means that the Duke of York will not be allowed to stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony, with the rest of his family, for the RAF flypast.
Harry and Meghan’s presence
Although the Queen will certainly miss the absence of her youngest and allegedly favourite child, the Jubilee could possibly reunite her with her grandson Harry and great-grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet Diana.
Their presence in the Jubilee has not been confirmed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but Royal Historian Dr. Edward Owens suspects that they will make a brief appearance. He told Express.co.uk:
I imagine if they come for the Platinum jubilee, it will be a bit like what happened with Philip’s funeral, it will be a brief visit and then off again.
