UK: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee sets off at a gallop

Britain’s queen has launched four days of celebration to mark her 60 years on the throne with one of her favourite pastimes.

Elizabeth II went to Epsom just outside London for the highlight of the flat-racing season for horses, the Derby.

The 86-year-old has a passion for horses and has entered several in the Derby over the years, though she has never had a winner.

It is somehow appropriate that the jubilee celebrations begin at Epsom. It’s an event she has scarcely ever missed.

One-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people packed the stands and filled the famous grassy vantage points around the track.

After Epsom, the focus turns to London, where millions are expected to turn out to watch several spectacular events over the coming days, including a Jubilee flotilla on the River Thames, and a concert outside Buckingham Palace.

Millions more across the UK are expected to celebrate royal events the traditional way – with a street party.

The Jubilee has been launched on the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation, but in fact she ascended the throne the year before on the death of her father King George VI in 1952.

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