The Royal Family in 2022: Queen’s extravagant Platinum Jubilee, Prince Andrew’s lawsuit and Harry’s tell-all memoirs
The Queen is set to become the first-ever British monarch to celebrate 70 years on the throne in 2022, as she will reach her historic Platinum Jubilee this year.
The national Jubilee festivities are taking place in June over a four-day holiday weekend.
But the Queen is actually set to pass the milestone on February 6 – the anniversary of the death of her father King George VI in 1952.
The Queen usually spends her accession day privately at Sandringham, but it is possible she may be seen at church, or carry out a local engagement in Norfolk as she has done in the past on milestone jubilees.
The royal extravaganza from June 2-5 – with an extra Bank Holiday – includes Trooping the Colour, a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, a visit to the Epsom Derby, a live concert at Buckingham Palace, and street parties and picnics.
A Platinum Jubilee Pageant will also be staged on June 5 against the backdrop of the Palace and along The Mall in central London, and combine street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival and costume.
But how much the public will see of the Queen during the celebrations has not yet been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.
The 95-year-old monarch carried out only light duties after being ordered to rest in October following a secret overnight hospital stay for unnamed preliminary investigations.
Arrangements for the historic jubilee will have to take into account her age, health and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bulk of the duties are likely to fall to the rest of the royal family, in particular the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Joe Little, of Majesty magazine, said the Platinum Jubilee would be different from the 2012 Diamond Jubilee in terms of what the Queen does.
“The Platinum Jubilee programme will reflect her age, although the Palace won’t say as much, and other people will be doing engagements on her behalf,” Mr Little said.
Joe Little, of Majesty magazine
“We know she won’t go to the Commonwealth or do any tours, but how much she does in the UK will be interesting to see.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial Oprah Winfrey television interview left the monarchy in crisis in March.
They accused an unnamed royal of racism against their son Archie before he was born, and the institution of failing to help Meghan when she was suicidal.
But the royal family and their aides are braced for new revelations, as Harry prepares to publish his tell-all memoir later in 2022.
Harry said his book will be written “not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become” and as an “accurate and wholly truthful” account of his life.
It will cover his time in the public eye from childhood to the present day.
There are fears Harry will delve further into his troubled relationship with his father the Prince of Wales, write about his rift with brother William, or even name the royal accused of making racist remarks.
The publisher, Penguin Random House, has yet to confirm the exact release date, but said it is “tentatively scheduled for late 2022”.
Prince Andrew lawsuit
The Queen’s second son the Duke of York is facing a US civil sexual assault case after being accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager.
Ms Giuffre is seeking unspecified damages, most likely for millions of dollars.
She alleges she was trafficked by the duke’s former friend, the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17 and a minor under US law.
The duke vehemently denies the claims.
Major events taking place in 2022 include the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The royal calendar has yet to return to normal because of the pandemic, and plans for the next 12 months will be dependent on the level of coronavirus cases and how the Omicron strain spreads.
There has not been a state visit to the UK for more than two years since Donald Trump was received by the Queen in 2019, and the palace garden parties – one the highlights of the royal summer season – were cancelled again in 2021.
There are big royal birthdays coming up for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who are both turning 40 – Kate on January 9, and William on June 21.