I

n 2012 the Queen will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. That’s no fewer than 60 years on the throne so get your flags ready and prepare to party like a royal at one of many spectacular events taking place across the country. 

A four-day long weekend will begin with Queen Elizabeth II starting the Diamond Jubilee celebrations at the annual Epsom Derby on 3 June.

The following day sees the unmissable Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, an elaborate royal procession harking back to the golden age that is set to be one of the biggest royal events ever held in England. Find a spot by the riverside to watch more than 1,000 boats and 30,000 people take to the River Thames as Her Majesty The Queen leads the largest flotilla London has ever seen.

Alternatively dress in your best party clothes, pick up your Union Jack flag to wave and feast on traditional Victoria sponge and Pimm’s at one of many Big Lunches happening across the country.

Along with the Diamond Jubilee weekend in June, there’ll be an eclectic programme of special exhibitions focusing on The Queen throughout 2012.

Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration – held at Buckingham Palace during the summer opening – details the royals’ binding relationship with the most precious stone in the world.

It's a rare opportunity to see an impressive collection of majestic jewels belonging to The Queen. In Berkshire, Windsor Castle hosts The Queen: Sixty Photographs for Sixty Years, an exhibition that depicts the 66th monarch in each year of her reign.