Queen's Platinum Jubilee in full swing as royals attend thanksgiving service

Senior royals have joined more than 400 key workers, volunteers, and armed forces personnel for a thanksgiving service for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The Prince of Wales, the Cambridges and the Sussexes are among attendees at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

The Queen is said to be watching from home at Windsor Castle after experiencing "discomfort" during Thursday's events.

Prince Andrew was forced to withdraw after a positive COVID test.

NHS workers, honours recipients, public servants and charity representatives are among those attending the service - part of four days of events marking the Queen's 70-year reign.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also in attendance with his wife, Carrie.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and former prime ministers John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May are there.

Johnson gave a reading from St Paul's Epistle to the Philippians in the New Testament, beginning: "Rejoice in the Lord always".

The Archbishop of York gave the sermon, Stephen Cottrell, after Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, tested positive for coronavirus last week.

Cottrell said the Platinum Jubilee was a time of "great rejoicing", which took place against a backdrop of "such suffering and uncertainty in our world".

But he said the Queen was an example of leaders who serve the common good with "a staunch constancy and a steadfast consistency; a faithfulness to God, an obedience to a vocation that is the bedrock of her life".

Only working royals and their children were invited for the special moment, with Prince Andrew and Prince Harry and their families excluded

Celebrations started on Thursday

On Thursday, thousands of people gathered in central London for the traditional Trooping the Colour ceremony and a flypast of Buckingham Palace.

The Queen later illuminated a globe at Windsor Castle, which coincided with the lighting of thousands of beacons across the UK and the Commonwealth.

Jubilee events ahead 

Saturday 4 June

• Platinum party at the Palace, live music including Queen and Diana Ross.

Sunday 5 June

• Big Jubilee lunch, 10 million expected to take part in street parties and celebrations
• The London pageant, a military parade, giant puppets and Ed Sheeran