Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

There’s plenty to look forward to here in Surrey to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

On February 6, 2022, Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

To celebrate this anniversary, events and initiatives are set to take place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday June 2 to Sunday June 5, 2022. 

The four days of celebrations will include public events and community activities, including here in Surrey, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Key events during the Platinum Jubilee year will include:

• The Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Castle in May;
• The Queen’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards Parade on Thursday June 2, which will be followed by a national beacon lighting;
• A Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday June 3;
• And a Platinum Party at the Palace at Buckingham Palace on Saturday June 4.

Nationally, The Queen’s Green Canopy is also inviting people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee” as a legacy of the unprecedented occasion. A number of tree planting ceremonies will take place across Surrey throughout the year. 

One of the showcase events of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in Surrey will be The Cazoo Derby 2022, which featured Ladies Day on Friday June 3 and Derby Day on Saturday June 4, at Epsom Downs Racecourse. The Queen has been a regular attendee since 1953, when she watched her first runner in the Derby, Aureole, just four days after her coronation.

Street parties and events are being encouraged across Surrey – but you will need to apply to your local district or borough council well in advance if you’re hoping to close off your road for the occasion.

• Please add your Platinum Jubilee events to the Visit Surrey online diary here

The Queen’s visits to Surrey

As well as Her Majesty’s annual visits to the Epsom Derby, there have been a number of other occasions over the past decade when Surrey has welcomed The Queen:

• The Queen visited the CWGC Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Egham on March 31 2021, to mark the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force and enjoy a spectacular Red Arrows flypast.
• The University of Surrey’s £45m School of Veterinary Medicine was officially opened by The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, on October 15, 2015.
• The eyes of the world turned to Runnymede Meadow, as The Queen led the nation’s 800th anniversary celebration of Magna Carta – the Great Charter on June 15, 2015. 
• A patron of Reed's School in Cobham, The Queen visited FutureTech, their science, technology and engineering site, to mark the school’s 200th anniversary in March 2014. 
• The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Royal Holloway, University of London in Egham, in March 2014 to celebrate the first Diamond Jubilee Regius Professorship of music, bestowed to the department of music.
• Guildford Cathedral welcomed The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to the cathedral’s 50th anniversary event on November 18, 2011 – half a century after The Queen attended the consecration of the cathedral on Stag Hill in May 1961. The royal couple later went on to East Surrey College at Redhill, where they officially opened the new £63m Gatton Point campus and had lunch.

Share your memories and photos of The Queen’s visits to Surrey with @VisitSurrey on social media.