The eyes of the world were fixed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Elizabeth II launched the festivities of her 70 years on the throne there this Thursday morning.
She appeared around 1:20 p.m., dressed in a light blue suit, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, very smiling and with a cane in her hand.
His son, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, had arrived around 11:15 a.m. on the spot.
The Queen then appeared in a horse-drawn carriage, as did Princess Kate Middleton and her children George and Charlotte, during the military parade which opened on “Trooping the Colour”.
Princes Charles and William traveled on horseback, with Princess Anne.
Opening an extended weekend of parades, popular festivals and concerts, the celebrations began this Thursday with the traditional annual military parade of the Salute to the Colors, which Charles will inspect on horseback, as his mother once did, before an aerial flight.
Confirmed only Wednesday evening by the palace, the appearances of Elizabeth II, which have become rare, are eagerly awaited.
Because her health worries: since a night in the hospital in October, she has canceled almost all her official appearances, replaced by Charles, including for the first time in May for the speech from the throne in Parliament.
Frail, she finds it difficult to walk and leans on a cane.
The one who, very religious, had promised at 21 to devote her "entire life" to the service of the British, however, shows no desire to abdicate.
She has made several surprise appearances recently, smiling and relaxed, notably at the famous horticultural exhibition at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, in an electric cart.
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The monarch is to appear twice briefly on one of the most famous balconies in the world, where the British royal family has marked major events since the 19th century.