Platinum Celebration: Excitement As Queen Steps Onto Royal Balcony

Queen Elizabeth emerged onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace to observe her official birthday Trooping the Colour parade to mark her Platinum Jubilee.

Her Majesty received a salute from parading troops, but was kept from taking on a bigger role at the ceremony due to persistent mobility issues.

Elizabeth was a 25-year-old princess when she succeeded her father, king George the sixth in 1952, bringing a rare touch of glamour to a battered nation still enduring food rations after world war ii.

Seventy years on, she is now the only monarch most Britons have ever known, becoming an enduring figurehead through often troubled times.

Britain’s first and very likely only platinum jubilee will see street parties, pop concerts and parades until Sunday in potentially the last major public celebration of the queen’s long reign.